What it Takes to Make her Smile
by TaintedMoonlight
Summary: --AU-- Not every fairy lives a happy life. Not every curse is made to last. Not every girl is doomed to laugh. They say she cannot smile for if she does, then she must grant any wish her jester chooses to bequeath and her life will fade with every wish.
1. Prologue

**_What it Takes to Make her Smile_**

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**A/N: **This fic was inspired by Alicechan's picture They say there is a fairy... on deviantArt. Check it out. It's a real pretty picture. Because FF doesn't like links, I have the link to her picture posted on my profile near the bottom under Fanfiction Status.

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Prologue:

She learned early on never to smile. Learned to keep her mouth set into a rigid frown that hardly ever faded from her face. Her lack of enjoyment would've kept her brothers' in a right state, that is, if they had cared. They cared _now_, which, she supposed counted for something, but in the beginning they were both too preoccupied with their own issues to even look twice at her. And before, she hadn't given them any mind.

Now that they cared, they just viewed the rigid frown as an extension of her personality. Since they had begun to pay attention to her, they'd never once seen her smile.

If they had paid attention before, they would have seen what a cheerful fairy she'd been. Now it was as if she was just a dark extension of her very own shadow – pure unfiltered sadness.

She refused to let herself smile, and for sixteen years, she'd done a right good job of it. With the exception of her one slip-up when it had all began.

She couldn't even remember how it was before…before _it_.

A heavy clatter of footfall made the incoming presence known.

She lifted her head to view the intruder. A spiky red-haired guy with beady eyes stepped in, a broad smile on his face. "So _you're_ the fairy."

Temari yawned slightly and closed her eyes just barely, leaving them open just enough so she could watch the shadow of this one's movement.

"She lives in the darkness of the forest." He chanted, "She'll grant one person a wish. A wish for anything in the world, on one condition. In exchange for the wish the person must make her smile." He recited a cheerful grin on his lips.

She shifted slightly, the velour of her skirt rustling heavily against the concrete floor. She extracted a small pale yellow flower from the familiar hiding place within her skirt and held it poised carefully between her thumb and her forefinger. She twirled it about, the flower seeming to glow with a dark intensity. The golden petals twirled around prettily, but the flower itself hung damply and limply, like death itself, despite the heavy glow that seemed to emanate from it. "Only one person has ever wheedled a wish from me. Don't think you will be the second." Indeed, one petal seemed missing from the dying, or perhaps already dead, flower.

"One has succeeded." He said cockily. "Why can't I?"

"I was young." Temari uttered monotonously. "Mistakes occur when you are but a child." She opened her eyes fully and stared directly at the man before her. "Be forewarned, if you attempt to wrestle a wish from me and fail, the consequence you must pay is your own life."

"I won't fail." He grinned confidently.

She shrugged, her wings scraping against the wall as she did so, "It's your life you're gambling with." She held up three fingers. "You get three days. Your first begins at sundown." She pocketed the flower. "Our house may serve as your abode for the next three days." She 

stared coldly at him, "You get until sundown to repent. If you do not take back your desire to attempt to obtain a wish before the sun has set today, your fate is sealed."

He merely smirked.

Temari closed her eyes. What a _fool_.

--

As the end of the redhead's third day drew near, the boy seemed to get panicky and flustered. So worried that he resorted to idiotic knock-knock jokes.

"Knock-knock."

Temari yawned. "Who's there?"

"Sarah."

"Sarah who?"

"Sarah reason you're not laughing?" He cracked nervously.

Temari stared flatly at him.

Behind her, the eldest of her brothers scoffed. "Dude, that's painful. You're just getting worse by the minute."

He flushed red. "I…I…I need a glass of water." The boy looked ready to drop dead from fear alone.

Temari sighed. "I told you not to try." She looked at her brother. "Kankurou, would you mind?"

The brunette glared at his elder sister. "I'm not getting him a glass of water. He doesn't deserve it. In the three days he's been hanging around, he hasn't even made _me_ laugh."

"Which is surprising in itself." Her younger brother rasped. "Considering how easy it is to impress you."  
Temari ignored their comments, "Gaara, could you get him—"

"I-It's fine…" The guy mumbled. "I'll g-get it." Stumbling up, the boy tripped over his own feet in getting out of the room.

Temari yawned again.

"He's making a run for it, you know." Kankurou informed as he peered out the window.

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. He's only wasting his time. He'll still die when the sun sets." She paused. "I told the fool not to try."

Gaara blinked slowly. "Did this one tell you what he wanted?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes." She pulled out the yellow flower. "Money." She scoffed. "Can you believe it? He traded his life because he wanted money."

"Humans are rather stupid." Gaara muttered.

"Yes." She murmured, twirling the flower delicately in her fingers, "I've yet to meet one I have liked."

Kankurou shrugged. "Some of them are funny."

Temari looked outside the window as the sun kissed the earth bowing down to its beauty; the sky blushing red at such an embarrassing display. The red tainted the sky heavy and thick, like blood swirling where it did not belong. Another omen to another death.

"Not really." Temari muttered. "They're all just full of lines and rhymes. Nothing worth the while." She whispered as she saw the earth swallow the sun, darkness settling slowly across 

the sky. The flower in her hand seemed to tremble with delight or maybe fear, and the heavy glow disappeared.

The entire castle was filled with a faraway scream of agony and terror.

Temari pocketed the listless flower with a sigh.

At least they didn't have to dispose of the body this time.

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**A/N:** I have about two other chapters written currently, so it shouldn't take me too long to update. I don't think this fic will be too long; max eight chapters (including the prologue), but I'm aiming for six. Hope you like!


	2. The Tale Goes

**Ch.1:** The Tale Goes…

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Shikamaru blinked away the last remnants sleep and stretched up from his position on the couch. Looking outside, he noted the sun was just barely rising from its rest to brighten and warm the castle walls. He looked down at his clothes trying to decide if they were appropriate attire. He'd been too lazy to change into his pajamas to sleep so he was still sporting his everyday wear, but it happened to be decidedly wrinkly. His mother would never let him out in public as he was, but he didn't quite feel the energy necessary to go change. Besides, there were more important things plaguing the city than whether or not his clothing was appropriate. He'd handle his mother's rants when the time came.

Lazily, Shikamaru ambled out of the room. He stopped upon hearing a melodic voice talking. Curious, Shikamaru headed to the source of the noise; no one was ever really awake this early in the morning.

A couple children giggled happily. Shikamaru looked at the tall blonde woman in the middle of the group of kids. Her eyes were bright with joy and rapture; she was obviously entranced by her own tale. Shikamaru leant against the doorway to listen to her. It was usually worth his while to listen, the platinum blond maiden – Ino – tended to tell the children intriguing stories.

"They say there's lives an evil fairy, crouched inside a home of rotting bones and dank musk." Ino crooned to the younger children. The small kids listened in rapt attention, eyes wide and skin covered in goosebumps. "She hates light, it's said. Some people believe it's because the purity of sun will burn straight into her skin and wither her dark core." The children shivered in delighted fear. "Her hair is darker than night itself, skin smooth and pale like alabaster; her eyes aren't eyes but little black beetles that shimmer from behind her heavy veil of coarse hair. All she wears is heavy black lace and velour; her nails lacquered a poisonous black. Her lips are dark and her voice is hoarse and scratchy." Ino changed her voice at the end so it was grating and scratchy; the children shivered in horrified delight.

"W-What does she do?" A tiny girl of four, maybe five, asked tremulously.

"Legend has it," Ino told with her voice laced with so much emotion, even Shikamaru found himself drawn into her story, "the other fairies kicked her out of their realm because of her morbid fantasies, so she waits patiently in her cave luring in curious and foolhardy passerby." Ino, now fully interested in her own story leant forward, "But no one really knows what she does to those poor souls, for they're never seen again. It's said though, if you're ever caught, if you can make the twisted witch smile, she'll grant you one wish, and one wish alone. You'd be wise to wish yourself away from her presence."

The children squealed in horrified delight.

Shikamaru couldn't help but scoff.

Ino, giggling with enjoyment, raised an eyebrow at him. "What? Don't you believe me, _oh illustrious knight_?"

"No, not quite, Ino. If no one's ever made it out of her cave alive, how do you know about the wish?"

Ino scowled, upset that her story had been poked apart once again by the lazy man before her. Of course, the children didn't seem to care, they were all far too busy finding the evil fairy and wheedling a smile out of her. At the rate they were going, all the children pretending to be the fairy were going to run out of wishes. (If that were possibly anyway)

"Why do your tales always involve some unseemly sort of horror?"

"They're the best kind." She defended airily, "and if you _were_ a knight, I'm sure you'd realize that, but you're just—"

"A boring old alchemist." Shikamaru finished for her. "Yes, I know."

Ino scowled. "No need to get touchy about it." She stretched up and patted down her skirt to smooth out any possible wrinkles. "Besides, it's a true story."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

She clucked her tongue in aggravation. "Well, of course _not exactly_ how I said to the kids." Her eyes take in his appearance and she wrinkles her nose in distaste. "Honestly, Shikamaru, it's no wonder that no maiden wants to marry you."

He shrugged, not particularly caring of that topic. Women were troublesome; the longer he could go without marrying, the better.

"Well, anyways, it _is_ real. It's a famous curse; I'm more than a little surprised you haven't heard of it."

"Well, I'm listening."

Ino grinned ear to ear, and settled happily upon the arm of a chair. Obviously happy to be telling another story, he could see her shifting into her storyteller mode. Eyes clear, posture straight but inviting, and body language shouting with promise of a delicious secret. "She lives in the darkness of the forest. She'll grant one person a wish. A wish for anything in the world, on one condition. In exchange for the wish the person must make her smile."

"Not your best way to tell a story, Ino."

"Oh, hush up and listen." Ino chastised. "That's the popular nursery rhyme that has been spread about for years. The legend is simple. It tells of a young fairy girl. They say she used to be beautiful – used to shine like gold and her smile was the most charming one around. She was a lovely fairy. The problem lay with her parents. For a long time, a human sorceress had held a grudge against her family. Rumor has it, she was cheated and tricked by the family; and everyone knows a sorceress does not like to be made a fool of. So the witch cursed the family with terrible blights. The youngest son's power, instead of being a gift became a horror. The elder son's strength, taken away. And the girl forced to lead a life of punishment and misery. Her curse is the most widely known."

"How is granting a person a wish in return for making her smile a curse?" Shikamaru asked lazily.

She scowled. "Shut up and let me finish."

He shrugged. "Alright, alright."

"A fairy is born with power, but even the most powerful of all fairies have their limits. The curse placed upon the girl was meant to kill her. She could grant only four wishes before her life would slip away. So in return, the girl had to learn to never smile, or else she'd meet her end. The difficult thing is this: when a human attempted to make her smile but failed, that human would die in her stead."

Shikamaru shook his head. "I don't buy it."

"Why not?!" She complained loudly.

"Well, someone had to have gotten their wish come true for the story to spread correctly. Plus, you have no names or places."

Ino scowled. "Fine. Her name is Temari. And rumor has it she lives in Suna, in a large ornate castle upon the tallest and loneliest hill. I don't know who got their wish granted, but seeing as how she was cursed as a child, she probably let a smile slip sometime in her early years." She pouted. "Now do you believe me?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Not really."

"Ino's right. She's real." A different voice sounded out.

Shikamaru sighed in aggravation. "Oh, really? On what proof do you base this assumption, old man?"Shikamaru stared at his father in annoyance.

Shikaku just smirked. "I saw her myself."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "What're you talking about?"

"I wanted to try it myself. I got there, talked to her, and then I repented. She was but a kid when I saw her." Shikaku frowned. "A rather depressed fairy, if you ask me."

Shikamaru yawned. "Are you sure you weren't just drunk, and the whole escapade a hallucination?"

Shikaku's eyebrow twitched. "It was real."

"If she's real, then why haven't we sent anybody to get a wish granted? Our village is in dire trouble. Seems like an opportune moment to try it out."

"Because, son, she hasn't smiled in years, nobody finds themselves capable of making her smile."

"How hard can it be to make a girl smile?" He grumbled.

"Not hard for you I'd surmise." A new voice uttered casually.

Ino squeals happily at the emergence. "Sasuke-sama!"

Ino, like most girls in the kingdom, had their sights set on winning the heart of the future king of Konoha. So far, Ino was doing a horrible job. Although, to her credit, so was every other female.

"A genius," Sasuke continues, completely ignoring Ino, "shouldn't find it too difficult."

Shikamaru shrugged. He was already bored with the topic of conversation. "And?"

"The idea of sending someone to the particular fairy has been circulating around." Sasuke says calmly.

Shikamaru sags against the wall. "You believe in her too?"  
Sasuke's lips tugged up into a bemused smile. "She's real. Why wouldn't I?"

Ino grinned in satisfaction. "Told you."

"Whatever. You all can continue discussing the fairy. I'm leaving." Shikamaru made his way out of the room, but stopped cold at the next sentence out of Sasuke's mouth.

"Everyone thinks we should send you."

He turned. "I'm not going to a stupid fairy just so I can die."

"Weren't you the one who just said _How hard can it be to make a girl smile_?" Sasuke questioned arrogantly.

He snorted. "It can't be that hard, but I'm not running the risk. You've got other geniuses you can send."

Sasuke smirks, "None as clever as you."

"I'm not funny." He clarified, voice completely deadpan.

"You're intelligent enough to make her smile, and certainly intelligent enough to come back alive." He looked pointedly at him, "I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't think it was necessary. Our village is in trouble."

"There are smarter people in this place."

"No offense to everyone else, but I can expect them to forget the object of heading there in the first place and simply wish for something they themselves desire. The idea of one thing – regardless of what it is – is too tempting of an offer to refuse. You're the only one I can think of that wouldn't sacrifice it." Sasuke looked at Shikaku in interest. "No offense, Shikaku."

It was a well known fact that Shikaku and Shikamaru were nearly on the same level when it came to intelligence. No one had yet bothered to actually to test which one was more clever. As far as intelligence went, the only thing that was known was that Shikamaru was at the very top, bested only by a few.

"Are you afraid you'll fail, Shikamaru?"

"More than just a little, _your highness_." Shikamaru said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He'd never made it a show to hide his disdain for Sasuke. Or how little he thinks Sasuke deserves the title. Shikamaru sighed heavily, thinking over the prospect. On the one hand, if he did accomplish the task, he could free Konoha from its current state. On the other, it was far more likely that he would fail and failing would only lead to him being _dead_, which, frankly, was a state he'd much rather avoid.

He'd never even met a fairy before. For all he knew, fairy girls were much more troublesome than human girls.

If they didn't send him, and the replacement was not to succeed, by the time Konoha figured that out, the village would fall to such a state of disarray that they'd be subject to invasion. If this really was the only shot (which, by the way things were going seemed more and more likely), then they only had one chance.

The only way to fight the epidemic plaguing them seemed to be with magic.

He sighed. "When do I leave?"

Sasuke smirked. "I knew you'd see the light."

He was making the biggest mistake of his life.

Hello, death. Goodbye, life.

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**A/N: **Sorry this took so long. I had a wedding to go to this weekend of one of my cousins, and they 'kindly' asked my mother to make the cookies for the reception (she really does make the best ones) and I being the 'doting' daughter that I am was obligated to help with them. This on top of driving classes took up alot of my spare time, so I didn't get to edit it in a timely manner as I would've liked. The chapters eventually do get longer and this time I'll try to update the next one ASAP!

Much love,

Jenni


	3. Unusual Human

**Ch.2: **Unusual Human

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Temari rested her arms on the windowsill, peering down at the events outdoors; it was relatively calm and quiet.

"Temari?"

She turned slightly. "Yeah, Gaara?"

Her youngest brother hesitated. "Are you…alright?"

She wished then she could smile, just to reassure him. But after all these years, it's no longer a matter of trying not to smile – she doesn't even remember how to smile anymore. "Just thinking. I'm fine."

"You're lying." He muttered.

"Maybe, a little." She sighed. "I haven't been 'fine' in a really long time, Gaara. I'm as fine as is normal for me."

He looked sadly at her. "I suppose." He paused. "I remember when you used to smile." He mused calmly. "Sometimes, I think I imagined it."

Temari looks in bemusement at her youngest brother. "I didn't think you all noticed me back then."

"Back then, _you_ didn't notice _us_." Gaara corrected calmly.

She faltered. "I'm sorry." She apologized quietly and draws her attention back to the figures outside the window, "It's just…back then, you guys seemed like such freaks. I was much happier being away, and then…"

"The curse." He finished for her.

"Yeah." She closed her eyes, "And then you guys were too busy with your own things to really…" she paused. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." He said quietly.

"Hey, Temari!" Kankurou walked into the room, his voice echoing boisterously off the walls. "You got another one."

She scowled. "So much for a moment of peace."

"I hope this one's funnier than the last." Kankurou grumbled. "He doesn't look like much."

"They never do." Temari mumblesd. "Just send him in. Maybe he'll be intelligent enough to repent."

Temari took her usual seat on the floor and waits for the newest human. He follows in after Kankurou, hands deep in his pockets, eyes half closed. He's rather scrawny and has thin 

eyebrows. His eyes are beady, skin pale even for a human, and he seems more asleep than awake. She dislikes him instantly.

Kankurou exits as he usually does during the explanation, Gaara following after him after giving the newcomer a long hard look. "I think I like this one, Temari." Gaara mentioned as he made his way out of the room. "Shame, really."

Temari scoffed. She sits quietly on the floor, waiting patiently for him to speak – after all, the humans really do enjoy having the first word. But this man simply raises his head slightly and looks at her in mild amusement. His beady eyes trace her wings, her clothes, and her scowl. She feels like a zoo animal on display. "Well?" she snaps at him rather annoyed.

"Well, what?"

"What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked eyebrow raised.

"You want a wish." She snapped crossly.

"More like _need_. But, yes, that's what I came for." He inclined his head as if to gain a better look of her, "You're really not what I expected. Tales have been greatly exaggerated."

She stiffened. "What does _that_ mean?"

"You look tiny. Fragile. Nothing like you should."

Temari is baffled by his careless conversation. If his object is to make her smile, he's certainly going about it the wrong way. He's getting on her nerves already and his time hadn't even begun. "Before you waste any more energy," she muttered condescendingly, "I really suggest you leave. You won't make me smile."

"Well, since I won't be leaving, I guess we'll see."

Deeply annoyed, Temari pulls out the limp flower from her pocket. It's wilted and quiet in her hands. "You get three days. If you do not make me smile by the end of those three days, you will die." She looks up at him, eyes hard and dangerous, "Do you really want to risk that for whatever petty wish it is you have up your sleeve?"

He contemplates her carefully, almost as if intrigued. Finally, after a long stretch of silence, he speaks, "When does my time begin?"

She's baffled again to say for sure. He hasn't mentioned anything about definitely making her smile. He isn't cocky or over confident. In fact, he seems anything but sure of himself. Absently she wonders if he's doing this as a suicide attempt. "At sundown. The three-day time period ends on the third day's sundown as well." She sighed. "You have until sundown to repent. If you do not retract your request before then, your fate is sealed." She's said the words so many times, she could mutter the chant in her sleep.

"Rather uncreative, wouldn't you say?" He muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"The way you tell people that they've signed their life to the devil. It's uncreative." He explained listlessly, "You can find much more intriguing ways to tell them that they've just about killed themselves. Certainly more interesting ways to tell the story."

She stares blankly at him. What kind of human is he? "Y-You…" She shook her head, he just wasn't worth it. "Our house will serve as yours while you decide, and if you choose to attempt making me smile it will serve as yours for the last days of your life."

He smirked. "Well, that's a bit more colorful, now isn't it?"

She scowled. "I'm serious, human; go back to where you came from. It's in your better interests to do so."

"I appreciate the warning, but, you see, I don't take orders from a woman – fairy or human." With that last statement, he steps outside the room, "Seeing how this is as good as my home, I'm going to go take a nap. Pretend to mull over the idea of going back home. You know, all that nonsense."

True to his word, the man did indeed take up camp at one of their couches as if were the most ordinary thing in the world.

--

"Well, he certainly made himself welcome." Kankurou muttered dryly as he looked at the man's sleeping form.

Temari frowned and headed to the kitchen. "He's an odd one."

"What makes you say that?" This time, Gaara, questioned.

She runs over the encounter in her mind. "He doesn't act like most humans. It's rather peculiar. He seems almost…" she hesitated.

"Almost what?" Kankurou presses as he takes a bright bumpy blue fruit from the crystal bowl in the kitchen. He chews it slowly awaiting her response.

Temari too takes a fruit – hers shaped tubular in a very dark pink hue. She turns it in her hand, thinking it over. "Fairy-like." She finally confesses. "He seems almost fairy-like."

"How so?" Gaara asked casting the human a analytical glance.

"Carefree, unaware and yet perfectly aware, chiding," she paused, "intelligent."

Kankurou looked at her in worry, eyes pierced with questions. "What makes you think that?"

She shrugs, "Something in his eyes."

Kankurou rolls his eyes at her. "You've been doing this for too long. You're starting to sound barmy."

"Oh, shut up." She grumbled.

--

A soon as the sun set, she was ready for the human to come find her and try his luck. After an hour, she got curious and wandered around the house looking for him. Maybe the human got lost. He can't have been stupid enough to just leave; she told him if he didn't repent to her before sundown that the challenge would be in effect. "Kankurou! Gaara!"

Both her brothers appear immediately before her. "Yeah?" Kankurou grumbled.

"Where's the human?"

Gaara's brow furrowed. "He isn't with you?"

"No."

The redhead shrugged, "The last I saw he was on the couch."

"Where is that idiot?" She grumbled, clearly annoyed.

Kankurou shrugged. "Don't know, but this has the makings of an interesting joke." He grinned, "Let's find him."

Two hours of fruitless searching later, Temari was ready to claim he'd ran away. Even Kankurou was convinced the human had departed.

"What an idiot!" Temari grumbled, heading up to her room. "He left, and now he's going to die all because he didn't repent." She kicked the door to her room open ready to collapse on her bed. She would've collapsed on it too if there wasn't somebody already _in it_. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

The human on her bed stirred. "What does it look like?" He mumbled into the pillow. "I'm sleeping. If you would stop yelling it would make it a lot easier."

Temari felt the strong urge to bash his head in. "You realize your three days have started?" She snapped in confusion and anger.

"Yeah. So?" He muttered lifting his head just enough to look at her.

"Most people tend to get started right away." She explained crossly.

"Why would I do that?" He drawled. "You don't get any sleep that way and neither do I. I'll start when I'm rested. Can't think when I'm tired."

"You're on my bed." She pointed out crossly.

"You said this was as good as my home." He mumbled before turning his back to her and snuggling into the blankets.

"NOT MY BED!" She screamed.

"Well, you should've been more specific." He yawned. "Now, shut up. I'm trying to sleep."

Temari's eyebrow twitched. This human was damnably annoying.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry about taking so long to update. I, uh...sort of forgot this story... I kinda got distracted by a manga/anime I discovered (Soul Eater) and haven't done anything else but that for the past three days. -whoops!- It just _reallly _caught my interest.

So anyway, as apology, I'll attempt to update the next chapter on Monday.


	4. Fruit From the Poisoned Tree

**Ch.3:**_ Fruit From the Poisoned Tree_

* * *

Shikamaru, much to his surprise, woke up at the crack of dawn. Severely annoyed, Shikamaru tried to nestle back into blissful sleep, but found that he could not. It was the stupid responsibility, he reasoned. Knowing that the village depended on him was disallowing him from experiencing any real comfort. Even _if_ the fairy girl's bed was the most comfortable sleeping area he'd EVER rested on. He wondered if all fairies had such good quality mattresses.

Shikamaru rolled out of her bed, remembering as he did so her reaction at finding him in her bed. He'd half expected her to kick him out, but, all she'd done was utter a few curse words and turn around. She felt pity for him, he was sure; that must've been why she let him stay. She didn't seem the type to let others walk over her, particularly humans. Hell, he felt sorry for himself too. He wasn't sure if he could manage the feat of making _her_ smile.

When she had come into the room and he saw her clearly in shadow's blanked, a profound sense of doubt over his chances of making her smile fermented deeply in his gut. A doubt stronger than the ones he'd felt before.

He sighed and glanced wearily out the window.

She really was a fairly pretty fairy. His father hadn't lied in that aspect. She did have shining golden hair and her eyes were piercing – though far more unsettling than his father had described. It was probably the years that had created the darker and more poignant expression of hers. She was much smaller than he'd assumed though. Her fingers were tiny, her wrists were tiny, even her lips were tiny. She wasn't skinny like the girls around the kingdom, she was just _tiny_. Which, sounded stupid, since, she wasn't all the small height-wise or even width-wise, but he could find no way to describe her better than by saying tiny. She was also dressed in the darkest colors. Black heavy skirts, black shoes, black necklace, black shirt, black gloves (of sorts), even black headwear – all touched with some degree of violet, as if hinting at a fairy she used to be. Vivid violet flowers touched her skirt; her headwear consisted of black and purple floral accompaniments, and her skirt itself was violet. But what really caught his attention were her lips and her wings.

He'd never seen wings before so naturally his eyes studied those carefully. It was a peculiar of a sight. It seemed as if violet tinted bones grew out from her back and a thin filigree of black skin stretched across the violet bones. The black looking almost peculiarly like the lace he'd seen on countless of damsel's dresses. Her wings seemed so fragile, and he imagined if he reached out and touched them, he would be able to truly grasp how breakable they were. They had to be stronger than they looked, he reasoned; wings were made for flying after all. But that did nothing to dissuade his interest and trepidation toward her wings.

The second thing: her lips. He had no reason for being so interested in her lips, really. He just found them so nicely shaped and imaging what it _would_ be like to see her smile. Her lips already looked so nice when she was simply scowling.

Shikamaru shook his head trying to clear the thoughts from his mind. He'd not even been a day in this place and his thoughts were already getting muddled. Getting her to smile would be incredibly hard. If at all possible.

Well, on the up side, death wouldn't be too bad, right?

He slid out of the bed and padded carefully down the stairs. Upon getting down he found the two males who lived with the fairy girl scouring through what he supposed was their kitchen. The two males must be the brothers Ino's tale spoke of. He couldn't know for sure as when his dad had come to the fairy, he claimed she was alone.

"Look, Gaara," the taller one smirked, "the human's up."

The redhead – Gaara – inclined his head at him. "Hn." He resumed rummaging through cupboards as if this were an everyday occurrence, which Shikamaru assumed, it probably was.

The brunette chucked an oddly shaped object at his chest. Shikamaru barely managed to catch it. It was a variety of colors and very bumpy. He turned it over in his hands; he'd heard fairies had different fruits, he just didn't think they'd be _this_ different.

"Eat it." The taller one grumbled.

"Will anything happen to me if I do?"

The red head glared at the older one. "Don't do that." Turning to face him, he held out his hand. "_Don't_ eat it."

Shikamaru tossed it back. "Why?"

"Fairy fruits are highly addictive to humans." He mumbled putting the object back.

"You take all the fun out of everything, Gaara." The elder one grumbled.

Shikamaru looked carefully at the two males. Since he was young, fairies had always appeared to be to him a female characteristic. He could never quite imagine a male fairy, no matter how hard he tried. And now there were two right before him. One dressed mainly in black and brown with sea foam eyes and another dressed in just black – head to toe – with an odd purple sketching upon his face. Neither of the males had wings like the girl though. Their skin tone also varied. The redhead's being unnaturally pale and the brunette's an almond color like the fairy girl. Although, unlike the fairy girl, _their_ skin seemed to glow.

"What?" The taller one snapped.

He shook his head. "Nothing, just…noticing." He directed his attention to the younger one. "Is there anything I _can_ eat?"

He scoffed. "I'm not finding it for you."

The taller one snickered.

Both of them exited the kitchen with a peculiar fruit in their hands.

Shikamaru sighed in annoyance. Drifting through the kitchen, he settled for pouring a glass of what he assumed to be water for himself. Hesitating, Shikamaru decided not to try it just yet. He should probably ask the fairy girl.

He blinked suddenly, recalling his initial objective. The fairy girl.

He wandered out of the kitchen and around the large castle, trying to discover her whereabouts. After about ten minutes of searching, he found her collapsed on the couch, snoring lightly. Her wings were tucked somewhat oddly into her body and her chest rose up and down slowly with each breath. Shikamaru sat down on the coffee table right before her sleeping figure watching her move. He still had no idea what he was going to do to make her laugh. His best bet was using today to analyze her alone. To figure out whom she was; maybe then he'd get an idea. After all, she hadn't smiled in years; it was going to take more than corny jokes or petty acts to make her smile.

She was a rather peaceful sleeper.

The blonde creature stirred quietly. Very slowly and lazily her eyes cracked open.

"Took you awhile." He muttered calmly.

There was a moment of unfiltered confusion in her emerald eyes and then anger. A peculiar strangled sound escaped her lips, and then, "What's wrong with you?!"

He inclined his head at her, more than just a little confused at her indignation. "In reference to what?"

"_What_?" she hissed in confusion, pushing back against the couch. The tiny creature seemed to be attempting to shrink into the fabric of the couch, away from him.

Was he really that scary? "You asked what was wrong with me. To answer your question, I'd like to know in reference to what you were asking."

Her lips twitched, and Shikamaru's eyed widened in shock. Did she almost smile? Would it be that simple?

The fairy girl's brow creased in confusion; whatever had just occurred was obviously something she wasn't expecting.

She sat up, her eyes losing the soft touch and becoming hard and irked once again. "What are you doing just sitting there?"

"Nothing really."

"How long have you been watching me?" She demanded.

"Thirty minutes, maybe."

She glared. "What's with the water?"

He looked down at the glass in his hand. "So this _is_ water?"

"Of course it is! What else could be?"

"So I can drink it?"  
"Yes." She growled. Oddly enough, she slid off the couch by jumping the back of it, as if being too close to him would destroy something within her.

She was definitely odd.

He sipped the water carefully. Hm. Tasted just like the water back at home. He watched her carefully from the corner of his eye, as she stood awkwardly to the side, glaring at him accusatorily. After about five minutes, she began to fidget. "Well, aren't you going to do something?!"

"Like?" He prompted.

"You only have three days to make me smile!" she exclaimed in aggravation.

"I'm aware. I'm not deaf." He said simply, amused by her reaction. She wasn't very patient now was she?

"Then?!"

"Then, what?"

She glowered. "What is your problem?! Do you want to die, you idiot!? You're wasting away your time!"

"I don't see why you're so angry. You're sure that even if I do try I'll fail, so why does it matter if I don't try at all?"

"Because not trying is stupid!"

"And rushing in headfirst without a plan is stupid as well." Shikamaru explained calmly. "You're very testy aren't you, fairy?"

She stiffened. "I really don't like you."

"Alright."

She sighed in aggravation. "Are you going to attempt anything anytime soon?"  
"No."

"Fine. Then I'm eating breakfast." She harrumphed and made her way to the kitchen.

Shikamaru followed after her. "Are those fruits really addictive to humans?"

"Yes, they—" she froze, "you didn't eat any, did you?"

He shook his head. "The redhead told me not to." Shikamaru paused, watching as she pulled out the fruit the brunette had tossed to him originally, "Are they your brothers?"

"Yes." She muttered stiffly as she took a bite out of the fruit.

"Hn." He watched her eyes in interest. Depending on her mood, they seemed to change hues. Currently, they were a heavy dark green that was almost black. "How do fairies differ? From humans, I mean."

They shifted to the regular emerald hue. "We all have magic. Different types, but magic nonetheless."

"For example, you grant wishes?"

She scowled, "That's a curse. That's not my magic." Her eyes were black again.

He sighed. "Well, care to explain what is _your_ magic?"

She chewed the fruit slowly. "I can manipulate wind. I can create wind storms and summon a large breeze." She paused. "I can also fly."

That certainly explained the wings. "Your brothers?"

"Gaara," she swallowed, "he's the redhead – has a special connection with sand. He can move it and manipulate it. It's pretty interesting." She took another bite of the fruit, "The other one, Kankurou, can move things. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's pretty interesting too, he can make things move in any which direction he so desires. He's even fashioned, 'puppets'. Wooden dolls he can move just like humans." Her scowl wasn't evident so much, but she definitely wasn't smiling. She licked her fingers clean. "Why do you care?"

"Interested."

She sighed and leveled a stare at him. "You didn't do this as a pathetic suicide attempt did you?"

He smiled. "No, there's more interesting ways to kill myself than this."

She looked doubtful.

"Did you ever grant somebody's wish?"

She stiffened. "Once."

"Whose and why?"

"I was a kid. I didn't have as much control back then." She snapped.

"You didn't tell me who."

She stared at the wall behind him. "You've probably heard of him."

"So?"

"Orochimaru."

Shikamaru inhaled sharply. "That's your fucking fault?!"

* * *

**A/N: **Seemed like a good place to cut it.

I might update early if I feel happy enough. PS. -whispers- reviews make me happy. ;)


	5. When Emotions Begin to Range

**Ch.4: **_When Emotions Being To Range_

* * *

Temari jumped back, completely confused by the human's shift in mood. "I…" What did she say? What could have possibly brought the passive human into such an incredible state of anger?

His eyes were dark and steely – she would go as far as to say that he looked absolutely livid. Despite the sudden irrational confusion and slight fear within her, she couldn't help but move closer to him in a transfixed state as if it peering closer at him would more accurately explain his behavior. She'd met many humans in her lifetime – more than most fairies ever would, and yet, she'd never felt this confused by one. He really hardly seemed like a human at all. More like a fairy. She jumped back sharply as his voice cut through the air clean and angry.

"Why did you do it?" he hissed.

She blinked, "I _told_ you." She narrowed her eyes at him; she really didn't like being asked the same question twice, and she did not like the way he asked her that. It was almost as if he was accusing her of some horrid deed. "I was just a kid with very little self control."

"That doesn't make it better." He snapped.

She glared furiously at him. "You think I don't know that?" She felt her wings flutter behind her madly as they were accustomed to do whenever she felt any emotion too strongly. "I've kept tabs on the stupid human. I know what he's been doing, but I didn't have a choice!"

"You chose to smile." He accused gravely.

"I don't need to hear you accuse me!" She snapped angrily, "I don't see you doing anything like this! You have no fucking right!" She wanted him out – out! She wanted that ungrateful human out of her damn house! She didn't want to see him anymore. "I'd like to see you control yourself!"

Her fists shook and she elbowed past him.

She half ran, half flew, out of the area they'd been. She didn't even know where she was going, stopping only when she crashed directly into one of her older brothers.

"Dammit, Temari!" Kankurou snapped. "Watch where you're going!"

"Shut up!" She growled angrily, still unable to control her emotions. Unable to stop the influx of fury and guilt. She had never been able to forgive herself for granting that man's wish. Never. She did not want to hear it from a stupid human.

She looked up at her brother and found that he looked oddly blurry.

Her brow furrowed. _What_…?

"Temari…" His voice was soft and apologetic, "I…what's wrong?"

The reason for his sympathy became immediately evident as a tear slid out of her eye and her vision cleared slightly.

She was _crying_.

Why the hell was she crying?

Temari crumpled to the floor, falling to her knees. Angry and furious, she pulled at her hair. Why was she crying? Why couldn't she stop?! No human could make her this distraught with a few simple words. What was _wrong_ with her?

Kankurou knelt down beside her. "What…Can I do something? Is there…" He positioned his arms awkwardly around her.

Temari choked on her weak sobs at the realization that her brother was trying to comfort her. There was something both very nice about that and very disturbing. She'd never once lost control of her emotions since the whole curse affair. Sure there were times she wanted to, most particularly when it concerned the one wish she'd granted, but she never had lost control. Never.

It brought her back to the very real question of what was wrong with her.

A little while later, she realized Gaara was kneeling beside her as well. She wiped the tears from her eyes and shifted out of Kankurou's embrace.

"Did he hurt you?" Gaara asked quietly.

"He's a human, how could he?" She said softly. "He has no magic." None that she knew of anyway. Although, that would explain certain things.

"Humans have no magic," Gaara continued, "But they can still hurt each other gravely."

"He didn't do anything." Temari sniffled quietly staring at her hands.

_You chose to smile._

The fury rose within her again. "I want him dead."

Kankurou stared at her in absolute shock.

Gaara inclined his head. "I thought you said he didn't do anything."

"He didn't." His accusing eyes and sharp words still stung, "But he said way more than he should have." She turned her head, "He crossed the line."

"But, Temari," Kankurou began slowly, "surely you don't really wish him _dead_." His eyes bored into her own. "You're always rather peace-like."

"I want him dead, Kankurou!" She screamed. "I want him to fail, and I want to see him _die_." She hissed. "He deserves to die."

Gaara looked at her calmly, speculatively. "What did he _say_ to you, Temari?" His voice was hushed and astonished.

"Never you mind." She muttered starting resolutely at the floor. "Never you mind."

"Erm, Fairy?" The human's lazy voice cut in.

"What do you want?" Gaara responded coldly for her.

She looked up at the awkward human. His height and limber body working against him, making him appear more like a branch of a willow tree than anything else. Shaking, bendy, and weak. He shuffled his feet and looked pointedly at her. "I'm sorry. I…" he paused. "I shouldn't have said that."

"You shouldn't have." She replied bluntly. "It certainly isn't helping your goal any."

"You don't know what my goal is."

"Does it matter? They're all the same in retrospect."

"If I could explain, you might…" He hesitated. "You might understand why I said what I said." A pause, "Even if it was still uncalled for, regardless of my reasons."

"Our sister doesn't want to talk to you." Kankurou snarled.

Temari snorted. How did Kankurou know what she wanted? The human's beady eyes were still tracing her, but not the same way they had earlier that day; instead they were just tracing her eyes over and over – almost pleading for forgiveness. She lifted herself off the floor. "Maybe I'll be inclined to listen to your story in an hour. As it is, you've gravely annoyed me. I'm going to take a nap."

As she made her way to her room she distinctly heard Gaara threaten the human. "You make my sister cry again, I'll kill you before the curse has a chance to."

Temari closed the door behind her and collapsed on her bed like she had wanted to the first day. Of course, her desire was immediately taken aback as she smelled something different.

Not unpleasant, just different.

She flew off the bed, hovering above it, feeling a cross between afraid and annoyed. It took her a few seconds to recall why it smelled so peculiar.

The human.

She settled back on the bed and pulled the sheets up to her nose so she could smell it better. It smelled like she did naturally: almonds and fuchsia petals, but…there was also a distinct aroma of freshly cut grass. She took another whiff. Did all humans smell that nice?

No, of course not. She remembered distinctly quite a few that reeked — of heavy alcohol and synthetic musk, overpowering and horribly disturbing. Some that smelled rather uncleanly – and not the good nature-y kind. Some that smelled like sweat and some that smelled like tin powder. But never had she met one with such a subtle aroma of grass. So faint that she had not smelled it on him yet, but strong enough that it left an imprint on her bed sheets. She curled her fingers in the bed sheets and lifted it to her nose once more.

It really was a nice smell.

Shame it was wasted on a human.

xXxXx

She woke up a while later, opening her eyes to see the sun setting. She sat up abruptly in wide confusion. Had she really slept for so long? She blinked slowly. Why hadn't the human woken her up? She turned around and literally fell off the bed. She sat up cheeks burning. "What're you doing?!"

The thin human yawned. "Waiting until you woke up."

He was seated comfortably on the floor by the door, legs crossed at his ankles with a book that looked distinctly like her diary open on his lap.

"That's mine!" She uttered furiously, snatching the book from his lap.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm aware."

"Then why did you read it!"

"Strategic maneuver." He explained calmly.

She hugged the worn purple book to her chest. "Stra-what!?"

He shrugged. "I wanted to know who you were."

"You could just ask!"

"I was afraid I'd stick my foot in my mouth again."

She frowned. "When did you first do that?" She placed the book on the bed behind her. "_Can_ you even do that?" she sat tentatively on the bed, staring speculatively at the human on the floor.

He smiled. "It's a figure of speech. I just meant that I was afraid I'd say something stupid again."

"Well, you already failed. That was a pretty stupid thing to say._ 'Foot in my mouth',_ I mean, _really_."

He snickered. "You're pretty amusing."

She scowled. "I'm glad you think I'm funny."

"I didn't mean it in a bad way."

"It sure sounded that way."

"I just meant you're interesting. Human girls don't tend to be." He paused, "You're also much easier to understand. Women are confusing most of the time."

"Yes, well so are men." She said calmly. "Just look at yourself." She paused. "Besides, I think it's a universal thing. Everyone, human or fairy, is…confusing." She finished lamely. In reality, she had trouble understanding anyone, she even had trouble understanding herself when it came down to it.

"You're not." He replied.

"Everyone thinks I am."

"You're confusing enough to be a normal person-creature-thing, but…pretty understandable, you know, for living in this universe."

She snorted. "Lovely, I've been demoted to a 'person-creature-thing'."

He shrugged, a smile on his lips, "I don't know what you are exactly."

"Fae is the popular word." She explained. She pointed beside her, "Move up here, will you? This feels uncomfortable."

"What does?"

"Talking to you when we're on different levels."

He complied. "I still don't know your name, you know."

"And you won't." She said calmly. "I don't give my name to people who'll only use it once or twice."

"You really are sure that I'll die, aren't you?"

"It's the inevitable." She shrugged. "You're only deluding yourself if you think you won't."

"I've accepted the possibility." He drawled, leaning back on the bed so he stared up at the ceiling. "But it isn't fact yet."

She looked at his cool face and wondered if he really was human.

"I didn't entirely grant his wish, you know." Temari said quietly.

His eyes shifted to her.

"Orochimaru's, I mean."

He said nothing, but kept his eyes on her. Calm, cool, and non-judging.

"He wished for eternal life." She explained. "I knew right away that I didn't want to give it to him. Even fairies are smart enough to know that living forever is not a good thing. It throws off the balance of things, you realize. But he'd made me smile, I had to – I had to comply. Luckily," she continued, "I'm pretty smart for a fairy."

"I don't doubt that." He smiled.

Her lips twitched again. She lifted her hand to her mouth and scowled at the human in reflex. She _knew_ that twitch. It only ever arose when her muscles longed for the memory of a smile. When the long dead nerves tried to reawaken. It hardly ever happened, and it had never happened (since Orochimaru anyway) more than once. And now, he'd caused that action on her twice, without even so much as a feeble attempt at a joke. "As I was saying," She continued, scowling at the man laying beside her, "All he did was ask me to give him eternal life. He never said he wanted what kind of eternal life he wanted." She shrugged. "You see, honesty itself is something that is second nature to most fae, so we learn to be careful with requests and questions, because while we don't enjoy telling the truth, we cannot lie. It's physically impossible."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Well, you're awfully blunt then, aren't you?"

"I did say most fae didn't I?" She said to him.

He smiled, "Yes, I suppose so."

"So, I gave him eternal life, but not the kind he wanted. I gave him a way to live forever, but it wouldn't keep him from dying and it certainly wouldn't be easy. To continue living forever and ever, he'd have to continually—"

"Change bodies." He finished for her.

She frowned. "Yes, how did you…?"

He sat up lazily. "Because he's the reason I'm here."

The most accurate way to describe her feelings at the moment would be to say she felt as if the first illusion of happiness within her shattered. How could he be working with…? She drew away immediately, hostility evident in her eyes.

He blinked. "What's this?"

"I should've known." She spat.

"Known what?" He looked genuinely confused.

"You're working for him!"

There was a moment of silence before he burst into laughter.

"What?" She snapped angrily.

"I'm not working for him." He chuckled, "Hell, fairy, I want to kill him."

She blinked. "What?"

He sobered up quickly. "The kingdom I live in used to be rather peaceful. For awhile anyway," He mused, "It's the only home I know; all my friends and family are there. Although, to tell you the truth, sometimes I don't even want to be there. I don't feel _home_."

That much was obvious when he referred to it as 'the kingdom I live in'.

"Lately, Orochimaru has been trying to overtake it. By all rights and reasons he should be dead, you know, it he didn't have that immortal thing working for him." He drew his eyes out the window. "His latest plot was to poison our water supply. Unfortunately, it worked." He frowned. "A large faction of the kingdom was ill when I left, by now the virus has probably spread widely. Four days from now, if the people aren't cured, Konoha will fall." He paused, "We'll be in his hands."

She lifted her finger and traced his jaw line as he fell silent. "So," She murmured softly, marveling as his eyes flicked to her finger then to her own eyes in an emotion she'd never quite seen. It was dark and heavy and made shivers course inside of her. "Is that would you would wish for?"

He inclined his head, giving her better access to his jaw, "I don't want the people I know and love to die."

Something inside of her felt unpleasant as he said that. Felt bitter, felt envious, felt…unwanted. Like an obstacle he had to get past. She dropped her hand from his jaw, his hand lightly brushing against hers as her hand headed to her lap almost as if he were going to hold it, but he didn't. She turned her head, sullen and more hurt then she'd felt in the longest time.

And the worst thing was, she didn't even know _why_.

"Most noble goal I've ever heard." She murmured softly. "You top the last one."

"Who was the last one?" He was looking at her with his brow furrowed. Something had perturbed him and he probably couldn't figure out what.

She frowned, "I never got his name, seeing how he repented." She looked at the human before her, "He looked a bit like you actually. Younger, more arrogant, much more annoying. Definitely human." She frowned. "Smelly."

"Smelly?" He prodded.

"That ugly human perfume. Smells like heavy musk." She shrugged, "Anyway, he was going to wish for the father of this girl he was in love with, not to die." Temari traced an imaginary pattern on her thigh, "The father had cancer. The human who came to me really loved the girl. Talked about her constantly. She didn't even know he existed." She frowned, "Her name was Yohsino, I think."

The human's eyes opened wide like saucers. "Yoshino!?"

She frowned confused by his surprise, "Yeah."

"Her last name wasn't Adiaré, was it?"

"You know, I think it was."

Shikamaru frowned. "How old are you?"

"Fairy-wise or human-wise?"

"Both."

"Forty human years, nineteen fairy years."

He frowned, "So for fairies, one year equals two?"

She nodded.

"Odd."

"Why'd you ask?"

He smiled lightly. "Yoshino is my mother. And the guy you're talking about is my dad."

Temari blinked. "Figures." That made sense when she thought about it.

"What does?"

"The only two somewhat noble and acceptable humans I've ever met are related." She clucked her tongue. "I still don't like you, though."

He grinned. "I assumed as much."

"So are you gonna try something yet?"

"Tomorrow." He said matter-of-factly. "Right now, I'm tired." He stretched comfortably across her bed. "Would you move?"

She felt like kicking him. _Stupid human._ "You're annoying even for a human."

"You're troublesome even for a woman."

"I don't like you, human." She uttered coolly.

"Shikamaru." He yawned.

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Shikamaru."

She felt another blush spread across her cheeks. "Whatever, human."

He smirked.

Temari stood from the bed and headed out of the room. She could bother Kankurou and Gaara until she felt sleepy again. Wonder what he would try tomorrow?

* * *

**A/N: **As I continue writing and editing this story, I'm starting to think I might have to write a sequel. Hm…Anywho, review.

Oh! I would really like to ask you, my lovely reviewers a favor.

In case you didn't know, I am now in my senior year of high school and have recently begun searching for scholarships. I have 

entered one in which I could get 500 dollars but it all depends on people voting for my picture. I have a link on my profile (near the top) and if you all could vote for my picture I would really truly appreciate it. You don't even have to register at the site to vote for my picture, (although, I believe registering would give my picture more points) so if you could go and vote I would owe you soooo much. I will be forever in your debt.

In fact, if you like, I will write absolutely any story you request of me. (Even if I hate the very idea)

Thank you and love you guys!


	6. The Taste of a Traitor's Tongue

**Ch.5: The Taste of a Traitor's Tongue**

* * *

Much to his chagrin, Shikamaru found himself waking early again the next morning. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon when his eyes opened. Shikamaru grimaced; what was it with this place? His sleeping habits seemed very subdued here; he could hardly relax. Of course, when he really thought about it, he shouldn't have been wanting to relax anyway. He had a job to do after all. He spared one more glance at the sky and sighed. It was still heavily dark with a few rays starting to scare away the heavy thick veil of night. The sun was killing the darkness, and like a fool the darkness tried to come back every day.

When would the shadows ever learn?

He slid off of her bed, absently noting that the light smell of almonds and some sort of flower was still heavily prevalent. He imagined the flower he smelled was the type adorned across her heavy dress. She smelled lovely, like the tart sweetness of nature. He imagined that had to be something of the type of fairy she was before she forgot how to smile.

He had no delusions that she was so very well trained in the practice of scowling that no joke, regardless of how funny it was, would move her; the more time he spent with her, the more sure he became that it was no longer that she didn't _want_ to smile – she simply could not recall how.

He had a few vague ideas on how to make her smile, but in reality, the mere thought of acting out on those ideas sickened him. It wasn't fair to her.

He slouched out of the room, and wandered into the main room of the empty castle thinking over his options. On his way there he bumped into the elder brother of the fairy girl.

He glared at him, "How many fucking days do you have left? You're beyond annoying."

"I haven't even talked to you." Shikamaru responded dully.

"Which is why," the younger one drawled as he wandered out of a room face buried in a book, "you've annoyed him." He smirked. "Kankurou likes the attention."

Shikamaru smiled wryly. "Sorry, I haven't fed your small ego."

Kankurou's eyebrow twitched.

Gaara continued forward, "Any progress, human?"

Shikamaru hesitated, "None that would really count." He paused. "Not yet, anyway."

"Dude," Kankurou rolled his eyes, taking him by the arm and dragging him along, "you won't make her smile."

"I can try."

"You'd be better off living these last three days to their best extent." Kankurou drawled.

He shrugged. "Any particular reason you're dragging me along?" Shikamaru asked lazily as the two men led him into the kitchen.

The read head put down his book on the counter. "Temari's sleeping."Gaara murmured as he looked through cupboards. "No disturbing her."

Temari, hunh? Was that her name?

Shikamaru sank into a chair. "Well, you didn't need to drag me. I wouldn't have woken her up anyway. Disturbing someone's sleep is rude."

Kankurou stared at him in astonishment. "Well aren't you something."

His stomach grumbled. Ugh, he hadn't eaten anything at all yesterday, unless one were to count the glass of water. He figured they didn't carry human food, seeing how three days without food wouldn't kill anyone – and they never had to worry about afterwards. He sunk lower in his chair and closed his eyes. No use in complaining.

"Hey!"  
Shikamaru cracked open an eye just as a round object hit him in the chest. He picked it up. It looked surprisingly like an orange. He wondered if it would still look like an orange on the inside.

"Eat it." Kankurou ordered.

He tossed it back. "I'd rather not."

Gaara shook his head. "That's a real orange. Human, not fairy food."

Kankurou threw it back.

Shikamaru looked speculatively at the fruit.

"Dude, just eat it." Kankurou growled.

"Why would you be feeding me?" He questioned.

Gaara shrugged. "Temari wanted to feed you." Gaara plucked a vibrant looking fruit (definitely fairy) and started eating it. "She didn't really say why."

Ah, so Temari had to be her name.

"She likes you, I think." Kankurou growled. "I don't even know why. Hell, you made her cry, liking you seems contrary to life's rules."

Gaara eyed him. "She might be sad when you die." He chewed slowly, "That's not good, but neither is getting your wish granted."

"Maybe we should kill him now." Kankurou mused. "Save her the time, and she could have somebody to be pissed at when he dies."

"I don't think I'd enjoy that." Shikamaru mumbled, still eying the orange with mistrust.

"Look, Gaara," Kankurou smirked, "he thinks we gave him fairy fruit."

Sand seemed to dance around Gaara, "Well, I could see why. He did hurt our sister; it's only natural for us to seek revenge."

"Of course," Kankurou continued, malice laced in his voice, "we would pick something much more interesting if we were to seek vengeance."

"Much." Gaara conceded.

"Has anyone ever told you two that you're frightening in the stupidest ways?" Shikamaru noted calmly.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, your threats seem very dully delivered and not in the least inventive. It sounds a bit like a necessary tirade of yours, but what really makes you scary is your posture and cruel smiles. They're very vile." He slowly peeled the orange. "Rather than say anything, you all should just focus on those stares, smirks, and other body language. That alone will deliver a much more 

effective threatening message." He looked them over carefully, "Not that you aren't doing a good job of scaring the hell out of me, it could just be done _so_ much better."

Kankurou looked baffled. "Unbelievable."

Gaara inclined his head. "She was right. He doesn't act very human-like."

"I told you."

Shikamaru turned his head to find her walking into the room. Her hair was incredibly messy, eyes heavy, and wings hung limply. She was obviously still extremely tired.

She _still_ looked beautiful.

Shikamaru looked crossly at the fruit in his hands. He shouldn't be thinking things like that. She was just a stupid fairy; he should not be thinking things like that.

She snorted. "Seriously, what are you doing? It's not like the fruit ever did anything to you."

He let his frown fall and instead looked up at her again. He was reminded of yesterday when they were both settled on her bed. How her thin smooth fingers ran slowly across his jaw. The way her emerald eyes turned a shining forest green as the smooth pads of her fingertips pressed lightly against his skin. How he felt his heart hammer strongly against his chest as she did so, and how the hammering increased tenfold when he stared into her eyes.

He found himself scowling again as the same feeling started to recreate inside his body again.

She raised an eyebrow, "You're in an awfully grumpy mood today, aren't you?" Not waiting for a response, she flew lightly right in front of him and made to sit down. His mind instantly recalling there was no chair in front of him, he found his fingers wrapping around her upper arm keeping her from sitting down.

He could swear there was a blush on her cheeks. "W-What are you doing?"

"There's no chair there."

At his statement Kankurou started laughing. "Look behind her, moron."

There was indeed a chair positioned right behind her. He pulled his hand away from her sharply, feeling embarrassed as heat rushed to his face. How did he miss that?

"Don't feel bad," Gaara said with a slight smile, "I moved the chair there with sand while she moved over to you. You just must've been too distracted scowling at our sister and the fruit to notice."

"You know," Kankurou grinned, "he is rather funny: in that unfunny way."

He scowled and settled for glaring at the orange. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the blonde fairy incline her head and study him in curiosity. He also saw her reach up to touch her skin where he'd held on to her.

He looked up just in time to see Kankurou's brow furrow. "Gaara—"

"Not here." Gaara responded, eyes dark and mouth drawn downward. "But, yes, I see it too."

"Hunh." Kankurou mumbled. "I really don't know what to make of this."

"What are you two idiots talking about?" The fairy girl demanded crossly.

"Nothing." They replied unanimously.

She scowled.

Gaara pushed himself away from the table and motioned for Kankurou to follow him.

"Some days they get on my nerves." She growled.

"But you love them anyway."

She looked him with eyes wide. "Of course I do."

He chewed on an orange wedge, passing his eyes over her once more. She looked exhausted. "Why didn't you sleep longer?"

She chewed on her lower lip, tinting it mauve where her teeth nibbled on it. "I couldn't sleep."

"Are you an insomniac?"

"I don't think so." She mused, "There are days I can't sleep, but it's not a constant thing." She reached forward and ran her hand through his hair pulling it out of the ponytail.

Shikamaru swallowed pretty much whole orange wedge he had in his mouth at her action and tried to ignore the way her fingers raked lightly against his skull and pulled his hair gently. He looked down to see his hands shaking. Obviously, the attempt to ignore her wasn't working very well.

Her frown creased into one of concern. "Are you alright? You're acting rather jittery, and well…sullen."

"F-fine." He stuttered. "I'm fine."

She dropped her hand and looked sadly at him. "Alright, go ahead."

"What?" He asked, his brain still not functioning very well.

"Your acting funny because you're nervous about what you're going to try isn't you?" She looked off into the distance. "Just go ahead and get it over with."

Well, he certainly was nervous about what he was eventually going to try, but that wasn't the reason for his current state. Well…they were connected in a way. "I don't think I will."

She scowled. "Are you sure you aren't just trying to kill yourself?!"

"Quite sure."

She sunk low into her chair. "I don't like you."

"Do you still want me to die?"

She blushed furiously. "You heard that?"

"You screamed it after all." He shrugged.

She sighed. "I don't want you to die, per say." She hesitated, "I just…you're annoying."

He smirked. "Well, at least I leave in an impact."

She scowled.

Shikamaru slid the last orange wedge in his mouth and chewed it. He wondered if he would really have the guts to carry out his fool proof plan.

She flushed. "I hate humans."

What brought that on?

"Don't raise your eyebrow at me!" She snapped.

"I wasn't even aware I had."

"You aren't so smart, you know." She accused.

"I never said I was."

"It's obvious you think you are."

He yawned. "Oh, really?"

"Humans always think they're so pretentious."

"And fairies rarely do?"

"We don't think we're pretentious." She sniffed haughtily. "We're just naturally better."

"Of course." He chided. "How could such an obvious difference in better-ness slip my mind?"

"You're forgiven." She said sarcastically. "You're only human after all."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, how we do err."

"You do." She said seriously. "You were stupid enough to take on the stupid chore in an attempt to make me smile weren't you?"

"Can't say it's stupid until my time is up, now can you?"

"Your time was up before it even started."

He slid his hand to brush the bangs out of her eyes. "Quite the pessimist aren't you?"

Her cheeks were a light pink. "Pessimism pays."

"Why see the glass half empty when it could be half full?"

"Because optimism is waiting for a ship to come in when you haven't sent one out."

He smiled. "The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised."**(1)**

"I've yet to be pleasantly surprised." She scowled.

"Then I'd say it was about time you were."

"Don't count on it."

"I won't."

She turned away from him, her scowl deeper than usual. "I really don't understand you."

"Very few people do." He replied sullenly.

"Most humans are easy." She said tersely. Almost as if she was accusing him of something. "I'm used to fairies being the complex creatures."

He shrugged.

"How old are you?" She asked abruptly.

"Sixteen."

She inclined her head. "Most humans are married at that age aren't they?"

"Or planning to."

"Are you?"

He shook his head.

"Why not?"

"Women are troublesome."

Confusion splayed across her face. "So you're attracted to men?"

He thought it over, never before having considered which gender he was attracted to. He thought of all the women and men he knew. He thought of how he acted on a daily basis. Surprisingly, he found his thoughts drifting most prominently to the fairy before him. Her rough appearing hair, shifting eyes, fragile-seeming wings, defined lips, and smooth skin. Her dark 

clothes, the violet flowers sprinkling her attire, and her dark scowl. He found that his skin crawled almost pleasantly because of these thoughts concerning her. He found his heart hammered rather heavily when he recalled how she had troubles with the concept of personal boundaries. "No, I don't think I am."

"In that case," She said, "you're rather peculiar for a human."

"You're rather peculiar for a fairy."

"So I've been told." She paused. "You look interesting with your hair down."

"Would that be a good or a bad thing?"

She moved around so that she was behind him, her hands raked through his hair again and her lithe body pressed lightly behind him. "I'm not sure to be honest." She pressed further into him so she could rest her chin on his shoulder. He could see her frown and her eyes looking at him calculatingly. She traced a finger on the bridge of his nose. "It's attractive, but you look much less like a human this way."

"Shouldn't it be better then? Since you don't like humans."

"It should." She mused.

Shikamaru decided to let go of his reservations and he raised his hand to finger her hair. It was much softer than it looked.

Her eyes watch his hands studiously, curiously.

He swallowed nervously, quite sure that they were doing something they shouldn't be doing. Something _he_ shouldn't be doing at all. Something he didn't want to be enjoying. Particularly with a fairy.

"You're rather fidgety." She murmured calmly as his fingers twisted in and out of her hair. "Although, much less so than most humans."

He withdrew his hand from her hair immediately, feeling rather embarrassed. "So you do this with all humans?"

This time she moved back putting space between herself and him. She didn't respond.

Shikamaru turned to find her turned slightly to the wall, arms wrapped around her upper body, murmuring something he thought sounded like "What am I doing?"

"Should I take that as a 'no'?" He prodded.

She didn't look at him. "Most humans try to put as much space as they can between me and them unless it's part of their jest."

"I'm still not hearing an answer."

"Would you stop saying such useless things?!" She snapped angrily. "You're just wasting your time! Don't you even care?!"

Her cheeks flared bright red and hands shook. "You're angry at me." He noted.

"Of course I'm angry at you! You're the most aggravating human I've ever met. You wasted an entire day and a half and – and, goodness, it's not like I hate you, so part of me is furious that you don't give a damn! What happened to your village, what happened to—"

"Is that the only reason you're angry with me? You think I'm trying to kill myself?"

"What other reason could there be?!"

"You tell me."

She pressed her lips together and faced the wall again.

Shikamaru stood from his seat and moved in her direction until he was right behind her; leaning forward, he murmured in her ear, "That's not an answer, Temari."

She half-jumped, half-flew away from him. Her eyes were wide and frantic. "Don't call me that."

"It's your name isn't it?"

"Don't _use_ it." She snapped.

"Why not?"

"I don't want you using it!" She screamed frantically.

"You're rather angry for a fairy." He noted dully, taking a step closer to her.

She took a step back.

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you afraid of me now?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You're confusing me again." She spat through clenched teeth. "I don't like it one bit."

"How could I un-confuse you, then?" He moved closer to her again.

She moved back.

He took another step.

She tried to move back, but found herself hitting the wall instead. She scowled.

He took another step.

She swallowed. "Well, you could stop." She breathed.

"Stop what?" He took another step.

She tried pressing further into the wall. "That!"

"What's 'that'?" Another step.

"M-Moving close to me."

Another step. "Why does that bother you?" Two more steps and he'd be mere centimeters away from her.

"I…I d-don't know…" She murmured, a frightfully red blush creeping along her face.

He took another step. "What else is confusing you?"

"E-everything. Every time you talk to me…" She swallowed, "I…get c-confused." She pressed further into the wall. "N-no one else has…talked to me." A pause. "Not unless it was how they were…trying to make me smile."

One more step. He could feel the heat radiating off her body. He could sense the shivers across her person, and see the goosebumps along her arms. Oddly enough, her wings were quivering. They weren't flapping, but quivering repeatedly.

"Are you…" she swallowed again, "Trying to make me smile?" Her voice was small and hesitant.

He leant closer to her, lips hovering above hers.

"Please stop." She whispered. "I d-d-don't like this game."

"Who said it was a game?" He murmured, trying hard to think above the repeated hammering in his heart, above the voices clamoring in his head, above his own damned hormones – hormones he hadn't even known had existed until that point.

"It has to be a game…" She shivered.

He pressed his lips against hers. Shikamaru had never kissed someone before and wasn't even sure if he was going about it the right way. The only thing he had to go by was Ino's tales. Maybe it was different with fairies…

His fears dissipated as she pressed into him and moved her lips against his. Her tongue slid into his mouth rolling around possessively. Her hands inched up to his hair and pulled it a little too roughly causing his scalp to feel a very sharp pull. Her teeth scraped the lower left corner of his mouth tugging his lips open more. Shikamaru placed one hand on the wall behind her and the other on her waist pressing further into the kiss.

She pulled away from him slightly, and turned her head up to him. "Wow." She whispered, a heavy blush on her features.

He raised his hand to cup the side of her face gently. "You're beautiful."

The corners of her lips twitched upward, and slowly they lifted straight up.

She was smiling.

Her eyes were a spectacular jade, face bright and jovial, cheeks lightly flushed, and she was wearing the most beautiful smile that he'd ever seen.

_They say she used to be beautiful – used to shine like gold and her smile was the most charming one around._

Well didn't that beat all; Ino was right.

The smile immediately fell and her hand shot up to her chest. She sank to the floor, a choking sound erupting from within her. "Damn you." She hissed at him.

Shikamaru sunk down. "Temari!" He tried to lift her up, but she shoved him away forcefully. Her hands frantically pattered around her skirt stopping only when she managed to retrieve a golden flower. The flower was shaking violently and pulsating a bright unbearable glow.

"What is your wish?" She demanded, her voice hoarse and strained.

"Temari, what—"

"Dammit, human, just tell me what you wish for!"

"I…" He hesitated. Right then he wanted nothing more than to comfort her, wish for her well being. Wish for her to never have to do this again. But he couldn't…He _couldn't_…His village was depending on him. His family.  
"Tell me!"

Whatever was happening to her was obviously very painful. But he couldn't… He squeezed his eyes shut. "I want for the medics in Konoha to find a permanent cure for the illness Orochimaru caused from poisoning our water supply right now!"

The flower emanated a blinding flash. "Wish granted." She breathed.

When Shikamaru's vision finally came back, he could see Temari still huddled on the floor, the flower still in her hands, but this time it was limp and lifeless. A petal flickered slowly from the flower falling on her skirt. Her eyes were lidded and posture exhausted. "Unbelievable." She whispered. "Unbelievable." She fingered the two remaining petals gently. "I only have two. Only two left…"

Shikamaru touched her hands gently.

She pulled them away sharply. Her eyes started at him accusatorily, almost black, "Don't touch me."

Shikamaru hesitated, his heart sinking. "What—"

She pocketed the flower swiftly. "Well!?" She snapped. "Your wish is granted; now, get off! Leave!"

"I don't—"

She stood quickly as he made a move closer to her. "Your game is over. That's it! You won! Now leave me be!"

"I-It…" To say it wasn't a game would partly be a lie, but even if it was a sort of play, he had meant it. He hadn't…He hadn't! He really did like her. Maybe he even…

"Go!" She screamed. "LEAVE!"

"Temari—"

"Don't say my name!" She screamed loudly, her wings fluttering madly as she did. "NEVER say my name!"

At that her two brothers scrambled in. "Temari, what—?" Kankurou began but was cut off by his sister.

"Make him leave!" She screamed through gritted teeth. "I want him gone!"

Gaara frowned, "We can't. He hasn't—"

"He got his wish, dammit!" Her wings fluttered more heavily, "MAKE HIM LEAVE!"

"He made you smile?" Both boys uttered in complete astonishment.

She squeezed her eyes shut, this time her voice came out low but deadly. "I want him gone. Get him out of my house."

"Can't I explain?" He tried weakly.

Her eyes snapped open in fury. "Did you, or did you not, do that-that…THAT to make me smile?"

"That's not the only—"

"DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT?!"

He hung his head. "…Yes."

Her voice was low and threatening again. "Then leave before I do something worse to you."

"I'm sorry." He said softly.

"I hate humans." She spat. "Get him out, Kankurou."

The elder brother grasped him by the shoulder and dragged him rather forcefully to the door. Before pushing him out, the purple etched fairy pulled him up and hissed at him. "I don't know what the fuck you did to Temari, but if I ever see you again, be sure that I will skin you alive. Never come near here again." He pushed him out the door so roughly that he slammed down to the floor heavily on his ass. Dust swirled around him and stung his eyes.

What had he done?

* * *

**A/N:** You guys are going to absolutely hate me for this…I will not be able to update (or at least I don't think I will) for about 2 maybe 3 weeks. The reason being I don't have the next chapter written at all, and I won't really have much free time from this point forward. In fact, I edited this chapter in the car on my way to San Antonio 

because I felt bad for not being able to update. I'll be spending a week in San Antonio for a family vacation and the week after that, I'll be at a leadership program thing in Rochester, New York. (Yay! New York!) So, I'm very, very, VERY sorry. Truly, I even held back from posting the first chapter of a new ShikaTema story I'm working on so as not to make you guys wait. I will try very hard to make some time to post up the (what I think will be the last chapter) next chapter beforehand, but don't get your hopes.

Also, thank you guys SO MUCH for voting for my picture. I appreciate it very, very much. I can't express my gratitude enough to you all. I still don't know the result as it is still ongoing, but I just wanted to let you know I really appreciate it. You are the best reviewers in the world.

Love,

Jenni

* * *

(1)Quote by George Will


	7. Falling in Love Makes a Fragile Heart Cr

**Ch.6: Falling in Love Makes a Fragile Heart Cry**

* * *

Temari stared angrily at the two remaining petals on her flower. She always knew there was a damn reason she hated humans – hated them with all her heart. Turned out, even the decent ones were jerks.

"Temari?" Gaara asked tentatively.

"I'm going to die." She grumbled. "Die, die, d-i-e."

"Don't say that." Kankurou barked crossly.

"Well, it's the truth. I'm fucking easy to manipulate."

"This is only the second time you've smiled." Gaara pointed out calmly. "Second. You still have two more."

"And what excuse do I have for that? I fell in love with a stupid ass human. Oh, yeah, that's a damn good reason to smile!" She snapped in fury.

Gaara blinked. "Did you say you fell in _love_ with him?"

"He's human." Kankurou said dumbly. "How could you possibly—?"

"Oh, shut up." She snapped in annoyance. "As if I don't feel bad enough for my idiocy already."

Gaara sat down beside his sister, the bed creaking as he did so. "I hardly think falling in love is idiocy. It's not like it's something you can control…right?"

"It's moronic." Temari grumbled. "Stupid things like that lead to me dying. D-Y-I—"

"Shut up," Kankurou interrupted angrily, "You're _not_ dying!"

She lay back on her bed and glared at the roof. "I hate curses." A heavy whiff of grass permeated her senses, "And humans. Especially _that_ human." She shut her eyes tightly, hoping that mere action would will away her sense of smell. She might just hate the smell of grass for her whole life.

"What did he do to make you smile anyway?" Kankurou prodded.

She cracked open her eyes as she realized lack of seeing only made the smell stronger. Staring determinedly at the floor, she scowled, "I'd rather not say."

"It's not something stupid like with Orochimaru is it?" Kankurou asked moving to sit on Temari's other side.

Temari blushed.

Kankurou raised an eyebrow, "Don't tell me he did it the same way."

"He didn't." Temari grumbled.

"Then?" Gaara pressed.

She closed her eyes determined to ignore both her brothers, but found them fluttering open almost immediately when a picture perfect image of what had transpired between him and her passed through her mind. Her heart beat almost painfully.

How she fucking hated her imagination.

Both boys looked at her in confusion.

"Temari…" Kankurou began hesitantly, "I don't want to force you to tell me the truth…"

"Why do you need to know anyway?!" She snapped. She didn't want to tell them! She didn't want to tell anyone. She was stupid and foolish and wanted to keep the exact details of her idiotic endeavor secret forever. The only reason _they_ knew how Orochimaru made her smile was because Kankurou used one of his stupid fairy gifts to wheedle the truth out of her. Kankurou had the ability to hypnotize a person to a point where they couldn't help _but_ tell the truth. They could not lie and they definitely could not dodge answering the question. It was a stupid gift that set off truth in its entirety spilling from every creature's lips – human and non-human alike.

"Just tell us, Tem." Kankurou said with a sigh.

"If you don't say it out loud, it won't be real. Or seem real, anyway." Gaara explained.

That's exactly what she was hoping for.

"And if doesn't seem real," he continued, "then you might make the same mistake twice." He paused. "We really don't want you to die."

She looked stubbornly to the side. The mere idea of a repetition of the mistake recreated the scene in her mind, sending shivers and a painful twist in her gut once more. The pain and joy of the whole thing was making her dizzy and sick to her very core; she knew without a doubt she did not want to do that again. The picture was too clear, too beautiful, too much of a lie. She sighed, she really _was_ a moron. "He…He…He ki-kissed me…"

Gaara froze immediately and Kankurou's mouth dropped open.

"I…You…Thi…" Kankurou struggled to form words. "Y-You smiled b-b-because he-he k-k-kis-ki-_kissed_ you?"

Gaara seemed to have started breathing again. "He kissed you and you smiled? You…You're in love with him…and he kissed you to make you smile…" Gaara's lips turned down into a frown.

Temari scowled. "Yes, okay?"

Gaara hesitated. Did you kiss him back?"

Kankurou blanched. "Do _not_ answer that question, Temari!"

Gaara inclined his head. "Why shouldn't she?"

"Because I don't want to know _that_!" Kankurou protested, "Besides, if she did kiss him back, doesn't that destroy some fairy cross-species rule?"

Temari never wanted to hit her brother more than at that moment. "We don't _have_ any rules, Kankurou. And never accuse me of doing something 'cross-species'!"

He shrugged, "Well, you _did_."

She punched him firmly in the gut.

Gaara looked at her in confusion, "I think your problem is you're not used to people being kind and charming with you."

She growled, "Excuse me?"

"Well," Gaara explained, "Orochimaru made you smile because of a few well placed compliments and flattery. Words you'd never heard before in your life so it made you feel beautiful. And anyone who feels like that can't help but smile." He reasoned. "This time you smiled because a human was so charming and interesting that you fell in love with him. You were a little more prepared because of what happened before, but one kiss was all it took to make the walls you put up crumble." Gaara smiled thinly, "Face it, Temari. You need someone to hold you and tell you you're beautiful or else you either wind up perpetually bitter or smile at the barest hint of false affection."

"You guys suck." She clenched and unclenched her fists. Finally unable to put up with the built up frustration inside of her, Temari flew up and started half-pacing, half-flying around the room. "I…just fuck off! I hate him! I hate him! I hate both of them! I'm tired of stupid words, and pretty smiles. I'm tired of humans who are always fucking lying to me! I hate lies! And I don't want you telling me these stupid things that you think about me!" This time she punched her other brother in the gut.

Gaara groaned at the pain, "Whether or not you want to hear it, I'm still right." He paused, "You never told me if you kissed him back."

"Fuck you." She snapped.

Gaara, still wincing from her punch, stood up, "By the way, Temari, how can you even be sure his affections for you were false?"

"He did it to make me smile!" She yelled, the emotional pain and hurt coming back again, "He said it himself!"

Gaara shrugged, "Maybe he was killing two birds with one stone."

"So now I'm a _bird_?" She snarled.

"You're whatever you want to be." Gaara said airily, "If you excuse me, I have someone I need to see."

He exited the room promptly leaving Temari alone with Kankurou who kept giving her odd looks and muttering things about 'interspecies mating'. After five minutes of this, Temari was so gravely annoyed she went to go sulk in the darkest corner of the palace.

Eventually, she managed to fall asleep to dreams of the human with beady eyes and lazy scowl.

_**xXxXx**_

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Temari complained loudly as an unbelievably annoying sharp pain coursed from her back where her wings grew from. "_Ow_!"She felt herself being pulled up her feet dangling in the open air.

"I don't buy it." A cracked voice snapped.

"Buy what?" She yelled, the pain in her wings getting on her last nerve. "Let go of—" Temari looked at the woman in shock. "Oh, _snap_." The woman before her bared her teeth, her brown eyes glaring angrily, she looked ready to murder someone. She looked older than Temari remembered. Her wrinkled were deeper, age spots were evident here and there, her hair was still as gray as steel, and her mouth was still impossibly toothy. The pain immediately released and Temari dropped down firmly onto the stony floor. She cursed as she stood up; the damn witch was also still incredibly prone to causing her physical pain.

Her brown clothes wrapped around her protectively in cocoon. "He's lying." She snapped at her as she circled her, her cold eyes studying her in distaste. "He has to be."

"Who's lying?" Temari asked in annoyance. "And what the hell does it have to do with me? If you can't recall, you've already cursed my family. I'm good with the curses and I don't want any more; maybe you're looking for the fairies next door?"

"Let me see your tongue." She demanded.

Temari wrinkled her nose. "Fuck you."

She leaned in so close to her, Temari could feel her even breaths rippling across her skin. "Tell me the truth and I won't punish either of you, he's lying isn't he?"

"Who's lying?!" Temari demanded throwing her hands up in the air, her wings fluttering angrily, "And about _what_?!"

She pursed her lips and stepped back, the shadow of the night wrapping around her like a second skin. "The human who just stole a wish of yours—"

"He's gone." Temari muttered adamantly.

"How did he do it?" She continued.

"He did it. That's all the information you need."

"Fairy, _how_ did he do it?" she demanded tersely.

"Why are you even here bothering me?" Temari snapped, "Just go back to your little home and leave me alone! You've already screwed me over; why would you want to rub it in my face!?"

Just then the door burst open and a lanky man scrambled through it looking fearfully over his shoulder.

Temari felt her insides burn with fury. "_You_!"

He turned to her, his expression devoid of its usual laziness, this time there was irritation, exhaustion, fear, and this other expression Temari didn't quite understand. This expression that made her feel warm and twisty again. "Oh, finally." He breathed out.

"Get out!" She hissed. "You already got your wish; I want you to get the fuck out."

"Let me talk to you first." He said before backing away immediately from the door as Kankurou came in. "I'm not going to do anything, I swear!" Shikamaru protested to her brother.

"I'm going to kill you, human. Come back here."

"This is too troublesome." He grumbled in annoyance; he then slid his eyes to her and the irritated expression faded almost completely. "Two minutes, that's all I ask." He said quickly to her fast advancing brother, "Give me two minutes and then you can continue chasing me in hopes to remove me from the face of the earth."

Kankurou snarled. "I will _not_—"

"Might as well give him a chance, brother." Gaara muttered softly as he too walked into the room.

Temari felt her wings begin fluttering angrily. "Chance? _Chance_?! No chance! I want him out, or dead, or-or both!"

Gaara shrugged, his sand now carefully wrapped around Kankurou in efforts to restrain him, "And if you still feel the same in two minutes time, then so be it."

Temari had never been the brute force amongst her brothers. She was the faster, lighter, and often times clumsier one. She could wallop them both, but when it came to delivering actual pain, her brothers were obviously the best outlet. They were stronger, more resilient, and their magic was better 

suited for offense. Hers was defense. But if they weren't going to help her, she would just have to attempt to beat the human up herself.

"Look, Temari—" The human began softly in an effort to pacify her, "I want—"

She punched him. "I hate you. Go home."

He grimaced, "It sure didn't look like you hated me when I kissed you."

Temari tensed. Kankurou struggled against the sand holding him in place. Gaara's lips turned down into a scowl. The witch leaned forward a smirk on her lips in utmost interest.

Temari punched him again. "That was—stupid! I hate you, never ever talk about that again. I hate, hate, _hate_ you!" She punched him once more, "Go back to your stupid village!"

Some blood was trickling down the corner of his mouth. "You're an awfully good fighter for a woman."

She punched him again.

He looked up grinning. "I'd rather stay here with you."

Temari's wings stilled and she felt her heart beat a mile a minute. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe normally. She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself. She wanted to tell him he was an idiot and she never wanted to see him again. She wanted to tell him that kissing him had nothing to do with how she felt about him; she'd just never been kissed and was amused at how it felt. She wanted to hit him again. She wanted to laugh at his statement – she wanted to break _his_ heart. But despite how much she wanted to do and say all of those things, she couldn't. She opened her mouth but closed it again promptly. Shocked into silence and fear. She closed her eyes and tried to still herself. Tried to listen to the winding motions within her heart and tried hard to return to her angry state – or at least, her apathetic state. This weakness wasn't any fun or any use. It was far too scary.

"Temari—"

"Please don't say my name." Her voice sounded so soft and fragile, even to her own ears. Tears prickled behind her eyelids. She wanted to cry. How stupid was that? She hadn't cried in the absolute longest time and here he was making her cry. He was making her love, smile, even cry. How she hated him.

How she absolutely hated him.

Except when she loved him.

"Please," he continued, "I never meant to hurt you. I-I-I did do that to get you to smile, but it was a lot more than that. I…I wanted to do that. I…ever since I started talking to you, I kept thinking about you and…and…I didn't understand…I'm sorry. I am sorry. It wasn't just a stupid trick. I just…I'm an idiot. I'm sorry." He finished quietly.

Temari opened her eyes to see him fidgeting with nervousness. "I…I don't believe you." She said quietly. "Please leave." She didn't want that to happen again. She didn't want her heart to break and her body to cry anymore. She was tired of that. Being lifeless was so much easier, so much more fun.

"Please, Temari—"

"I told you not to say my name!" She snapped, her anger mixing with sobs inside her chest.

"Let me understand this." The witch crooned in a mixture of confusion and interest. "This stick-like pathetic excuse for a human here—"

"I would hardly call myself a pathetic excuse. I'd say I was a very good excuse…" Shikamaru grumbled under his breath.

The witch continued as if he hadn't spoken at all, "Managed to get you to smile by _kissing_ you?"

Temari immediately began to protest the obvious truth in the statement, "It was early in—"

"And not only did you kiss him _back_, but your brother claims that you are in love with him as well." The witch stared evenly at Temari, "I want the truth only, fairy; no excuses."

Temari glared at both her brothers. She was entirely unsure as to which one of them had tattled on her to the witch, but she knew for sure she would cause whichever one had spilled immense pain. "Yes, I kissed him back."

"And as for what your brother said?"

"Would you mind telling me which brother said all this?" Temari questioned with a fake sweetness in her tone.

"Answer me fairy." The witch demanded.

Temari glowered at the floor. She did not want to look at the stupid human when she answered. "Yes. I'm in love with the human."

Said human dropped to the floor in shock.

Everyone in the room turned to look at the currently unconscious human.

Kankurou blinked. "Did he faint?"

Temari nudged him with her foot. "Either that or he died." She looked up at the witch in fear, a worry she didn't know she could hold for anyone but her brothers creeping up in her chest. "What did you do to him?"

The witch scoffed. "I didn't do a thing." She looked in disdain at the unconscious human. "His state is self-induced."

"Oh." Temari breathed in relief.

The witch frowned, "Were you worried for his state, fairy?"

"Why would I?" Temari dodged the question. "What would I care if you cursed him, or-or killed him?"

"So, if I decided to turn him into a frog you wouldn't give a damn?" The witch pressed.

"I…I don't see why I should c-care." Temari chose her words very carefully.

The witch smirked, "Very well." She waved her arms about and instead of an unconscious human, there now lay an unconscious frog sprawled on the stone floor.

Temari gaped at her amphibian love. "Change him back!"

"I thought you didn't care."

"You can't just curse anyone you feel like! That's rude!"

"Why are you in love with him?"

"Fuck that! Change him back!"

"Why are you in love with him?" The fairy pressed.

"He makes me feel happy!" Temari screamed, "Now change him back!"

The witch snapped her fingers and he was human again – an awake human. He was sitting awkwardly on the floor, eyes wide, and fingers twitching. "What…Was that?"

"You fainted." Temari muttered stubbornly.

"I didn't faint…" Shikamaru protested, feeling rather light-headed. "Men don't faint."

"So you just up and decided to spontaneously take a nap, then?" Temari snapped.

Shikamaru stood up shakily. "Yeah, I'll go with that…" He paused. "Was I frog?"

Gaara inclined his head, "For a few minutes." He looked at the witch. "Why does he remember that? I thought humans didn't remember the spells casted by witches once those spells were removed."

The witch frowned. "They shouldn't. I'm a little concerned myself." She pursed her lips. "You are human aren't you?"

Shikamaru rubbed his head wearily, "Yes."

The witch circled him in interest.

"Get away from him!" Temari snapped instantly. She didn't trust that witch at all. Death was preferable to her meddling.

The witch placed a hand on his head. "Worried for you little pet, are you?"

"What do you want, Chiyo?!" Temari demanded in frustration.

Ignoring her, the witch kept her attention on the human. "Tell me, do _you_ love this brute fairy?"

"Don't answer that!" Temari exclaimed, trying to figure out what it was that was going on.

"Ignore her." The witch continued, "I can make you tell me if you refuse to tell me peaceably. The forcing is more fun for me, but rather painful for you."

Shikamaru twisted away from her. "Yes, I love her. But I don't see what that has to do with you."

The witch growled in annoyance. "_**And every stone that turns shall find it's time. Through wind's travails and fire's trail, comes the end of the fairy's rhyme."**_ She snapped her fingers.

Temari blinked. "What the hell does that mean!? Did you just curse him? I swear if you did—" She stopped abruptly as she felt her insides burn. Temari fell to her knees clutching her chest. "What did you do?" She managed to spit out, before the colors and shapes before her were replaced by a thick black veil. There was immeasurable pain and then…darkness. _Sealed with a kiss, wins the fairy's true wish._ The words echoed in her mind over and over and over – then everything came back. Her vision returned, her sense of touch came back, her sense of smell…it almost felt like she'd been drowning and was barely saved. Heavy stone floor was under her and everyone in the room was looking at her in concern. Warm hands were holding her gently.

"Temari?"

She swallowed, and looked at her speaker. The human – Shikamaru – looked down at her in concern. "I'm f-fine." She muttered. "At least, I th-think I am."

He pulled her close to him, "Thank goodness."

It took Temari a few seconds to realize that the reason his arms were so tightly around her, was because he was hugging her. He was hugging her. She wrapped her arms around him in reciprocation and inhaled the deep scent of fresh cut grass. She buried her face in his shoulder.

Temari smiled. She could stay like this forever.

She pulled back abruptly as she realized what she'd just done. She sat gaping at him in fear and patting her dress for the flower. When she finally found it, her light grip on the stem loosened immediately. She watched the flower fall steadily to the ground. Gray, weak petals crushed into the stone floor and the dry balky stem scratched against the ground.

It was dead.

The flower was _dead_.

Was _she_ dead?

"Up!" The witch's coarse voice interrupted her thoughts. On pure custom, Temari instantly complied. "You too, human." Shikamaru lazily followed suit.

Temari pinched herself. She winced; so that meant she was probably still alive. Or else all the stories were wrong, and once you were dead pinching yourself still hurt… "I did smile, didn't I?"

Chiyo looked at her crossly. "Yes, fairy. You did."

Temari blinked. "In that case…what the hell?"

"Your curse is over."

"H-how?" Temari blinked running over the day's occurrences in her mind. What most prominently came to mind were the words she heard when she could see and feel nothing. _Sealed with a kiss, gains the fairy's true wish._ "A kiss would break the curse?" She questioned in utter confusion.

"Only a kiss from your true love." The witch snapped. "I didn't think anyone found their true love anymore…"

Temari choked on her words. "T-t-t-true l-l-lo-love?"

"Nevertheless," The witch continued happily, "I can still keep you from having a happy ending."

Temari snapped back to reality. "Wh-what?" Happy ending… "Do not do anything him!"

The witch grinned widely, "Very well, I will grant you that _one_ desire." Before Temari could modify her request, the witch snapped her fingers.

Temari squeezed her eyes shut in fear. When she felt no pain she opened them again. Looking down at herself, she could see she was still very much in tact. Shikamaru seemed very much in tact as well. "What…?" The words died in her mouth as she noticed the witch scoop up two small bugs into a glass jar.

"Lovely parting gift, don't you think?" She smirked, "Maybe I'll feed them to my cat."

"Give them back!" Temari cried trying to pry the jars from the witch's hands.

"You had your wish." The witch chuckled. "You should've been more specific." The witch waved one of her arms and Temari felt herself being shoved back forcefully.

Temari felt her heart drop down to the bottom of her chest. "_Give them back_…" She repeated quietly. "Please." Temari sunk to floor in helplessness.

"Bye, fairy."

"Wait!" Shikamaru said before the witch could disappear.

The witch turned her head. "What, human?"

"You do trades with humans, don't you?"

She looked on interest. "What did you have in mind?"

* * *

**A/N:** I hope this chapter made up for my absence. I'm ALMOST done with the entire story now. And there's one more chapter left and an epilogue. You guys are love.


	8. Laziness Inspires True Desires

**Ch.7: Laziness Inspires True Desires**

* * *

Shikamaru took a deep breath.

This was it, all or nothing.

He really hoped he didn't do something to screw it all up. He pulled a small bundle from his coat pocket. Very, very slowly, he unwrapped the small package, pulling off rough brown paper. He pulled out a thin silver chain slowly, revealing a pure crystal pendant hanging from the chain. "One of the few necklaces of the Yamanaka." He explained, "They once used to be real big witches, but most have quit that lifestyle path nowadays. The necklaces were thought to have long since been lost, but they're still around. All held by very different people mind you. Some who don't even know the real value of it, but they are around nonetheless. I don't know any of the spells to the necklace itself, but I have one, if you're interested." The witch made to grab it, but Shikamaru pulled it away. "So?"

She snarled, "It _is_ real?"

She was a rather old looking witch, Shikamaru thought absently as her eyes twinkled in greed underneath the folded skin wrinkles. "I got it from a Yamanaka. It's as real as can be."

"You want her brothers back in return for the necklace?" Chiyo scoffed. "Such a jewel is worth much more." She licked her lips, "How would you like for me to make you king? For me to give you a fortune larger than any man could ever have?"

Shikamaru dangled the necklace in a tantalizing matter from his fingertips, "I will give you this necklace in return for an oath from you."

Chiyo frowned, "Oath?"

Shikamaru paused thinking over his next statement carefully. He remembered how Temari told him she'd managed not to grant Orochimaru's wish as intended. Magic required exact wording. "You will return her brothers, alive, healthy, and in human form, and you will swear to never ever meddle with the three of them or any future member of their family ever again. For this oath, I will give you the necklace."

"Add yourself." Temari immediately interrupted.

He smiled, "I'm already covered by your 'one desire'."

Chiyo scoffed. "You're asking for too much." Her beady eyes traced the necklace in desire.

"That is what I ask." Shikamaru rolled the crystal in his fingers watching as the witch twitched with anticipation. He desperately hoped Ino's tales on the legend of the crystal were not over exaggerated. But based on how the witch was reacting, Shikamaru guessed that the crystal's legends were in fact very much revered.

"Did you steal the crystal?"

Shikamaru smirked. She was measuring the value. "No. It was given to me."

The witch swore quietly under her breath and paced around the room for a minute or so. After a few unintelligible mutters on her part she turned to stare him down. "How about this? I will return the dratted fairy's brothers alive, healthy _and in the form they are currently in_ and will swear to never ever meddle with the three of them or any future member of their family ever again, _if_ the necklace is a genuine Yamanaka crystal."

Temari's lips drew into a frown. She didn't like that deal, Shikamaru could see. He ignored her pointedly. "By 'dratted fairy' and 'brothers' you mean…?" He prodded.

"Temari!" She pointed at her, "That one's brothers."

Shikamaru rolled the crystal in his hands, feeling the smooth glass against his fingertips. Fairies didn't like it when they were double-crossed; Shikamaru remembered Ino's constant cool warnings. "Deal." But technically, he wasn't double crossing her. Not at all.

Technically.

Chiyo grinned. "Smart man." He hoped so. "If this is a fake—"

"It's not."

"Regardless, if it is," Chiyo continued, "you will pay severely."

"Duly noted." He tossed the necklace to her just as Chiyo tossed the jar holding Gaara at Kankurou to him.

Temari flew up into the air immediately and caught the glass jar. She pressed the clear container to her chest in sorrow and slight fear. She sunk back down to the floor just as the witch disappeared.

Shikamaru stood to the side for awhile, transfixed by the shimmering beauty of her wings. She wrapped her arms protectively around the jar and stared at the glimmering beetles inside it. "Can you hear me?" He heard her mumble to them quietly.

Shikamaru walked over beside her still more than a little transfixed by her image. As soon as he was within a foot of her, her shoulders tensed. She turned on him, her eyes darker than night itself. "How could you _do_ that?!" Temari snarled suddenly, all signs of her previous gentle nature lost.

"Do _what_, exactly?" Shikamaru drawled, "Get your brothers back?"

"They're still bugs!" She screamed at him. She looked about ready to tear him piece by piece.

Geez, he saved her brothers and she wanted to kill him – what a wonderful thank you. Granted she should be a little pissed off, but she should be a tiny bit grateful. Pfft. Women. "I got it covered." He 

replied simply. He made an attempt to take the jar from her. Temari snatched it back protectively. The corner of his lip twitched upward. She was rather amusing at times. "You really don't trust anyone do you?"

"Shut up!" she snapped.

"Hand me the jar, yes?" He asked calmly. He held out his hands. "Trust me."

She hesitated. "They're bugs. They're fragile…" Her voice was soft and broken.

"And I swear I won't hurt them. On my honor." The stupid weak part of him really wanted her to trust him. He wanted her to trust him with the jar because it would mean so much. She would protect her brothers with her life, and if she trusted him with her brothers, then it was…It was something wonderful. Of course, he was ready if she didn't want to give it to him; he had plans all ready to go.

Obviously agitated, she took a moment and looked between him and the little insects repeatedly. After a minute of silent contemplation, she hesitantly held the glass jar out to him. Shikamaru took the glass case from her hands carefully and screwed open the top. As he was doing so, he watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye: how her eyes were now a soft sea green and how she was biting her lip in apprehension and worry. Her fingers were twitching, as if itching to take the glass jar back. He tipped it down ever so slightly so that the little glittery beetles inside of it crawled out. One was plump, oval-shaped, and darker than the veil of night, the other was red and round in shape. It would almost look like a spotless ladybug if it weren't for the pincers on its head. Methodically, Shikamaru slid his hand inside his pocket and pulled out a small brown velvet bag. Reaching inside he pulled out a handful of shimmery earthen powder from it that Shikamaru had always secretly thought looked quite a lot like shiny dirt. He was more than just a little surprised that no one had never mixed up the two things.

Temari's frown confirmed his suspicions. "Why is he carrying around dirt?" He could hear her murmur distinctly under her breath. "Humans are weird."

He chuckled silently. His moved the hand holding the powder toward the bugs.

Temari twitched. "W-what are you doing?"

His hand hovered over the insects. "Don't worry." He made to tip some of the dirt onto the beetles.

In an instant, Temari's fingers were curled around his hand preventing any of the substance to fall onto the beetles. "Wh-what is that?"

Gently, he twisted his hand around in her grip so his palm filled with the brown powder was now facing up. He extended his fingers. "It's a powder. An alchemist 'art' of my dad's." He paused, "Well technically, it's of my entire family. I'm not sure who first made it up." Still not letting go of him, she moved her other hand toward his open palm and pinched some of the powder in her slender fingers. She brought it up to her eyes to examine it, rubbing it across the pads of her fingertips.

"What's it do?"

"Do you trust me?" He asked calmly.

She looked at him in trepidation. "I…" She blushed, "Yes."

"Then trust me."

She let go of his wrist. "Okay."

Shikamaru turned his hand around and sprinkled the powder over the bugs. _Please work. _He pleaded.

Temari leaned forward, her eyes creased with worry. "Is something supposed to be—arghh!" She flew back immediately, hovering in the air a few feet away looking suspiciously at the bugs.

Shikamaru crept closer to look at them, but didn't even mange to get close. Her fingers curled around his shoulder and pulled him back abruptly. Shikamaru looked back between her and the small bugs. Fae must have better eyesight than humans, he reasoned. He desperately hoped the reason she was pulling him back wasn't because his plan was backfiring.

Just as he was about to sigh in defeat, there was a flash of white light. Shikamaru blinked repeatedly, unable to see anything but the splashes of color whenever he closed his eyes.

"Oh! Why don't you have clothes on!?" Temari yelped in embarrassment.

At her comment, Shikamaru stopped trying to see what was in front of him and opted to simply close his eyes.

"That was fucking uncomfortable that's why!" Kankurou grumbled.

"That doesn't explain your lack of clothes!" Temari protested. "OH, quit just standing there and put on something decent! I do not want to see either of my brothers naked!"

"Then quit looking!" Kankurou retorted.

Shikamaru wasn't tempted in the least bit to open his eyes. He did not want to see any guys naked. Fairies _or_ humans, thank you very much. There was a large amount of yelling and arguing, in which Shikamaru noted, Gaara did not participate at all. He worried if maybe he hadn't been able to help Gaara.

"You can open your eyes now." Gaara's cool voice sounded out stopping his worries in an instant.

Shikamaru opened his eyes hesitantly. Thankfully, it seemed both males were fully clothed. "Oh, good." He breathed out.

The redhead held out a smooth silver stone to him. "Thank you." He looked back at Kankurou, who was engrossed in a rather large shouting match with Temari. "Your stone, Kankurou." Gaara demanded.

Without a hitch in his argument at all, he slipped his hand in his pocket pulling out another silver stone and tossed it to the redhead. Gaara caught it with a wry smile and extended it back to him.

Shikamaru pocketed both stones. He had never been gladder he'd chosen to be an alchemist instead of a knight like most males in his kingdom.

"Hey!" Temari protested halting her part of the argument immediately. "What was that? It looked pretty."

"It was how he managed to turn us back to our regular form." Gaara responded coolly.

Temari frowned and walked over to him. She plopped down rather gracelessly in front of him, her hands patting all his clothes looking for the stone. Shikamaru thought about telling her it was in his left front pocket, but decided to let her find it on her own. He rather liked the feel of her hands on him too much to have it end so quickly. Finally discovering it, she pulled out not only the two stones her brothers had given him, but three stones. "Explain." She demanded abruptly.

"I think it would make more sense if your brother did." Shikamaru admitted, "I'm still not entirely sure what happened."

Shikamaru noted Temari immediately turned to her eldest brother. That in itself was humorous.

Kankurou held up his hands. "Hey, not me. This was all Gaara."

Temari turned her head to the redhead instead. "_Well_?"

Gaara shrugged. "When we were talking about how he made you smile, and you admitted you loved him, I got an idea." He stretched his arms. "I've been reading about your curse for a really long time, Temari."

She faltered, "W-why?"

"Because you were sad. I wanted to help you." He paused, "I'd read that most curses could be broken with true love's kiss. I thought that was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard, so I started asking around. I found it was true, but not in the strictest fairy tale sense. So…when you told me that, I went to go talk to the witch. She seemed pretty pissed off by the idea that you were in love."

Kankurou yawned, "I have a question, Gaara." He looked at Shikamaru and Temari in interest. "What made you think it was true love?"

He shrugged. "Because I don't think Temari could ever love any other way. For Temari it's everything or nothing." He paused, "And he was always looking oddly at our sister. Plus, I thought true love could never be one-sided."

Shikamaru looked slightly embarrassed and stared at the floor. Somehow having how he felt spelled out without him ever admitting anything was not only awkward but…mortifying.

Gaara continued calmly, "Of course, before I did that, I went to go find this one and figure out if he loved you too. Then he came up with a plan using his powders and pebbles. Kankurou wasn't in on it, even at 

the very end. He was just confused. I only had enough time to slip the stone in his hand."Temari blinked. "So…" She looked at Shikamaru. "You…You planned this?"

"Your brother did." Shikamaru corrected.

"My brother planned to have her remove the curse, but you planned for all possible problems?"

He shrugged. "I'm pretty pessimistic."

Temari blinked again. "Wait! Was that glass thing even real?" Her wings started fluttering madly, "You can't double-cross a witch. You can't!" Her eyes were dark green and full of fear.

Shikamaru stifled a grin. "I didn't double-cross her. The glass pendant really _is_ from the Yamanaka witches. And no one really knows what it does, except of course for the practicing Yamanaka witches themselves."

"You said there weren't any left."

"No," He grinned, "If you recall, I said most have quit that path. And most have."

"Did you give her extra power?" Temari asked, her voice laced with fear.

He shook his head again. "I said only the practicing Yamanaka witches knew what it did, correct?"

"Yes."

"I also said, that the crystals are held by many different people who aren't aware of its real value, correct?"

"Correct."

"That would be, because some of the holders of this rare crystal believe it has magic." He explained further. "Any practicing Yamanka witch will tell you that the crystal has just been used for centuries to detonate either a witch of extreme power or as the final key to the philosopher's stone."

Temari sat up straight. "Everlasting life." She paused, "YOU GAVE THE WITCH EVERLASTING LIFE AND GOLD?!"

He shook his head again, another smile worming its way on his face. "I said the final key." He cracked his knuckles, "Really, the real reason no one has ever been able to make or find the philosopher's stone, is because the formula calls for the final ingredient to be crushed into fine powder using the Yamanaka crystal. It won't work otherwise." He shrugged, "Of course, it completely ruins the crystal."

Temari slumped down. "Why the hell would the spell call for something that stupid?"

Kankurou grinned, "Well, that's a surefire way to guarantee no human will stumble upon it. You lot like using expensive equipment."

Gaara frowned, "How do you know all this?"

"Well, I know the crystal's origin's and properties because I'm really good friends with one of the few practicing Yamanaka witches left in the world. And I know about the philosophers stone because," Shikamaru slid his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket. He pulled it out and opened his hand for the three fairies to see. "I have one."

Kankurou fell to the floor loudly. Gaara stood frozen still. Temari snatched it from his hand immediately to look at it closer. "Liar." She muttered after a few second of examining. "This is just an ugly rock."

He snickered. Ugly it definitely was. He took it back from her, "Which is exactly why it's so ingenious." He held out his other hand, "Any one of you have any metal on you?"

His hand was instantly filled with metal trinkets. He raised an eyebrow in interest. Well, that was odd. Most people didn't carry any metal at all.

Temari waved his confusion aside impatiently. "Fairy thing. Continue."

Shikamaru held the stone to the metal, careful to watch all their expressions as he did so. They went from obvious skepticism to wondrous awe. Looking back at his hand, he noted calmly all the metal was now raw gold. All three of them took a piece of gold from his hand and examined it in wonder.

"How did you discover this?" Gaara questioned rolling over the piece of gold in his fingertips. "The Yamanaka's told you?"

"Not quite. I'd been working on ways to figure out the philosopher's stone— my dad's desire, and he'd dragged me to do it with him. Of course, he was busy doing something for the king, and because of that, I had two choices: I could go help him, or I could continue his project. I hate the king, so I chose to do the project. When I was nearing the end of the whole thing, I thought it would be a good idea to work with the brown powder I used earlier today. I thought it could help. But we didn't have any of it ground up, so…I had to ground it myself. I was too lazy to go wash some of the dirty equipment near me or find a clean set, so instead I took the glass pendant Ino (she's the Yamanaka witch) had given me to look at and ground it with that instead. I mixed everything together and poof! Philosophers' stone. Of course, I broke the stone almost immediately – all on accident."He added quickly "I was so startled that when I touched the stone to metal it actually turned to gold, that I dropped the stone – right out the window. Ruined it completely. I ran the experiment thousands more times, until I finally figured out why it wasn't working anymore. The necklace." He shrugged. "No one to date, not even the Yamanka witches themselves, know how to create the philosophers stone. In fact the only witch that even knows the crystal is necessary for it is my friend Ino, and she has no interest in HOW it was done. Only I know the secret. I never got around to telling my father."

Temari gaped at him. "You have to be the luckiest human on the face of the earth."

"I guess so."

Temari frowned, "So, how old are you really?"

He snickered, "I've yet to use the stone for that purpose just now."

Kankurou shook his head in mirth. "Unbelievable. You traded the witch an oath for a worthless piece of glass. I'm in awe."

"Ow!" Temari suddenly uttered.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

She rubbed her shoulder. "I was making sure I wasn't dreaming or dead, because you know, human 'fairy tales' are supposed to stay in books as stories for gullible little children. It's hard to believe that one really happened. Well, of sorts, anyway."

"So what's the consensus?" He asked her in mild amusement, "Dead or alive? Conscious or unconscious?"

"Conscious and alive." She reported happily.

Finally unable to restrain himself, Shikamaru pulled her close to him and pressed his lips against her own. Her wings shook madly and her lips opened in an invitation to him.

He was not only in love with a troublesome woman, but he was in love with a troublesome _fairy _woman. There had to be something wrong with that.

She pulled back a large smile on her lips. "I could get used to that."

He loved her smile. "Me too."

"Oh, disgusting." Kankurou interrupted making retching sounds. "Inter-species mating!"

"Shut up before I make you shut up!" Temari yelled at him attempting to lunge at him, but failing as Shikamaru wouldn't let go of her waist.

Gaara, smiling, grabbed his older brother's hand and pulled him out of the room all the while Kankurou continued making comments about cross-species breeding.

"I will kill you!" Temari struggled against him. "Kankurou come back here! Dammit, Gaara, quit taking him away! Shikamaru, let me go! I need to kill him."

Shikamaru turned her around and pressed his lips against hers firmly again.

She immediately stopped struggling.

"Kill him when we're done."

"But that's not f-fair…" She complained, whimpering prettily as he pressed his lips against her collarbone. "By then, the inspiration for murder will have quelled significantly."

"What a damn shame." He murmured into her skin.

"Stupid ass, Shikamaru." She grumbled, but the loving smile on her lips and breathy tone betrayed her real emotions. "Humans aren't so bad." She murmured.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay! Only the epilogue left. (Or maybe it's not yay. Maybe it's nay…)


	9. Epilouge

**Epilogue**

* * *

"So," The blonde woman began, her voice luring in even the most skeptical child, "the dark fairy smiled the most beautiful and gorgeous smile that the man had ever seen. Compared to her usual morbid attitude and expression, that one loving grin was enough to melt the knight's heart of stone." The little girls sighed with satisfaction and the boys grumbled in disappointment. Murmurs of 'just kill the damn fairy' were heard among the boys. Ignoring them, she continued her tale, "Of course, just then the fairy felt as if her very heart was exploding – not in delight, but in raw pain. In the softest voice the knight had ever heard from her, she asked him what his wish was. When he didn't respond, the fairy raised her voice in such a high painful streak, that the knight himself wanted to bend down to comfort her. 'JUST TELL ME WHAT YOUR WISH IS!' she screamed. The knight hesitated and bent down to the floor, forgetting everything about his dreams of glory. He wanted to help her. Hold her. Love her. His voice, soft and interestingly enough hardened too, could be heard resounding through the fairy's great castle. 'I wish for you to be free of this curse.' The fairy's eyes widened in pure astonishment. 'G-granted' she stuttered."

Just then a rather loud chime of laughter interrupted the blonde's story. The laughter bounced off the walls and trickled across the ear of every person inside the castle.

Ino pouted. "Is there a problem?"

The kids surrounding her, while having no idea what was going on, were smiling at just hearing the laughter. It was the most beautiful laugh anyone in the castle had ever heard.

Stepping out of the shadows, came a tall lanky man, looking not a day older than the one who had left the castle walls ten years ago to be with his fairy bride. "That, Ino, is the most ridiculous story I've ever heard." His lips were spread into a wide smile.

Behind him stepped out a cheerful looking woman with violet wings spread out behind her. She had peculiarly coarse looking hair tied in four ponytails around her head, soft emerald eyes, and a dark violet dress upon her, dusted with a variety of purple-shaded flowers. Purple tipped wings with black lace flapped lightly. "That is so corny." She laughed. "Since when did you change the story?"

The kids all looked up at the beautiful fairy in awe.

"Oh, come now!" Ino protested, "You didn't even hear the end! You just heard the lovely mushy part. You interrupted me before I got to how the fairy single handedly stopped the evil witch with her awesome wit, and how the awesome knight killed a dragon with his bare hands and the help of the fairy brother."

"_The_ fairy brother?" Temari interjected, still grinning widely. "As in only one?"

Ino waved her hand as if brushing it aside, "Two seemed like a frivolous way to tell the story. Much less exciting too."

A small girl found her way to Temari's feet. She pulled at her dress. "Are you the fairy from the story?"

Temari snickered. "I'm a fairy from _a_ story. I'm not sure if we're talking about the same story."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yes, she's the fairy. Ugly thing, wouldn't you say?"

Temari smacked him, "Take that back!"

"I think I need another kiss to remind me why you aren't ugly again."

Not waiting for a second request, Temari pulled him down to her and kissed him passionately.

"Eww!" The boys crooned. "Gross!"

Temari pulled back, feeling satisfied. "So?"

"Breathtaking."

The girls made sounds of delight and joy.

"Damn straight."

"Hey!" Ino protested. "No swearing in front of the children!" She brushed her platinum hair to the side. "Honestly. Living away from civilization sure gives you a foul mouth."

Temari chuckled and bowed low. "Oh, forgive me, your highness."

Ino smirked. "Like the crown?" She pointed to the silver headwear placed on her, resting as if it were there that it had always belonged.

"Sexy." Temari smiled, "Sorry we missed the wedding. Fairy business." She scowled, "You wouldn't believe how touchy fae get when they feel threatened. And by a human to boot."

"Where's your husband?" Shikamaru asked.

Just then, Sasuke made his appearance and slid his hand in hers.

"Exactly where you have been." Ino smiled, "Looking out for the love of his life."

Temari smiled.

Shikamaru hugged his fairy close to him. He would never get tired of her smile.

_**The End**_

* * *

**A/N:** And huzzah the story ends here. (Sort of)

Because I had fun writing this. (More than I probably should have. I just love fantasy stuffs.) I've been thinking of making a sequel-partner story of sorts. And because you guys are awesome I'll let you pick which one I'll do.

I've removed my old poll (very helpful, thanks to all who voted by the way. I was using that info for a story I'm working on.) and put up one concerning the story to follow. So far I can only think of two possible options. I could write what happened between Ino and Sasuke (I've never written about either of them so that'll be a challenge, but I suppose it could be fun) or I could write about the 'fairy business' that Shikamaru and Temari went through that made them miss Ino's wedding. Naturally, both stories will be endowed with ShikaTema-ness, but obviously one more than the other. To make deciding easier, Ino's story will probably include what happens with Orochimaru, more details on how Konoha was fixed, and conclusive knowledge of Shikamaru's 'departure' from the kingdom, witchy political problems, and obviously romantic interest between Ino and Sasuke. Whereas, the 'fairy business' story will concern Shikamaru's integration IN fairy life, probably another appearance of the witch, a big super secret on Shikamaru's family's part, and lots of interesting political (fairy) turmoil. So there it is. Go to my profile and vote if you, you know, care about what I write or just feel like killing a minute or two.

Thanks!


	10. AN

**A/N:** I will probably delete this A/N in a week's time and just add it to the last chapter, but for now I thought it would be a good idea to do this. For those of you who read this fic, I have posted up its sequel. "What it Takes to Win the Game." :) Thanks for having read this one, and if you want to read the sequel, just mosey on over to my profile and click on it.

Love,

Jenni


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